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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines, by 
+Henry Charles Moore
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines
+
+Author: Henry Charles Moore
+
+Release Date: July 1, 2009 [EBook #29286]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOBLE DEEDS--WORLD'S HEROINES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art]
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: 'YOU SHALL NOT KILL MY MISTRESS UNTIL YOU HAVE KILLED
+ME!']
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Title page]
+
+
+
+
+
+Noble Deeds of the
+
+World's Heroines
+
+
+By
+
+HENRY CHARLES MOORE
+
+
+
+
+_WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS_
+
+
+
+
+LONDON
+
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
+
+4 Bouverie Street & 65 St. Paul's Churchyard
+
+1903
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+In these pages I have tried to show how women, old and young, in many
+ranks of life, have proved themselves in times of trial to possess as
+much courage and daring as men.  Some of these 'Brave Women' died for
+their Master's sake, whilst others, in His cause, passed through dire
+peril and grievous suffering.  All of them counted not their lives dear
+unto them, so long only as they might do their duty.  I have designedly
+omitted many familiar heroines in the hope of winning attention for
+some whose deeds have been less widely recognised.
+
+H. C. M.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+I. BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
+
+  ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE
+  GRACE BUSSELL AND THE WRECK OF THE GEORGETTE
+  CATHERINE VASSEUR, THE HEROINE OF NOYEN
+  MARY ROGERS, AND THE WRECK OF THE STELLA
+  MADELEINE BLANCHET, THE HEROINE OF BUZANÇAIS
+  HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL
+
+II. BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN THE MISSION FIELD
+
+  JANE CHALMERS; ALONE AMONGST CANNIBALS
+  ANNA HINDERER, AND THE GOSPEL IN THE YORUBA COUNTRY
+  ANN JUDSON    )
+  SARAH JUDSON  ) PIONEER WOMEN IN BURMA
+  OLIVIA OGREN, AND AN ESCAPE FROM BOXERS
+  EDITH NATHAN   )
+  MAY NATHAN     ) MARTYRED BY BOXERS
+  MARY HEAYSMAN  )
+  MARY RIGGS AND THE SIOUX RISING
+
+III. BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN WAR-TIME
+
+  MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND
+  LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE
+  LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE
+  LADY HARRIET ACLAND, A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR
+  AIMÉE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT
+  LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY
+  ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR
+  THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA
+
+IV. BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
+
+  ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE
+  NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED
+  ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED
+  GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER
+  LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE
+  LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
+
+
+ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE
+
+'FIRE!  FIRE!'
+
+It was two o'clock in the morning when this cry was heard in Union
+Street, Borough, London, and the people who ran to the spot saw an oil
+shop in flames, and at a window above it a servant girl, Alice Ayres,
+screaming for help.  Some rushed off to summon the fire-brigade, but
+those who remained feared that before it could arrive the place would
+be gutted.
+
+'Jump!  jump!' they shouted, and stretched out their coats to break her
+fall.  But instead of jumping Alice Ayres disappeared from the window.
+There were other people in the house, and she was determined not to
+seek safety for herself until she had made an attempt to save their
+lives.
+
+Hurrying to the room where her master, mistress, and one child slept,
+she battered at the door, and awakening them warned them of their
+danger.  Then through smoke and flames she sped back to her own room,
+where three children slept in her charge.  She gave one look out of the
+window, but the firemen were not yet on the scene.
+
+'Jump! jump!' the crowd shouted.
+
+But Alice Ayres ignored the entreaties, for she had determined to save
+the children or die in the attempt.  Her first idea was to tie two
+sheets together and lower the children one by one; but, finding that
+the sheets would not bear their weight, she dragged a feather bed to
+the window and dropped it into the street.  Willing hands seized it and
+held it out, expecting her to jump; but she disappeared again,
+returning, however, a moment or two later, with a little white-robed
+child in her arms.  Holding her at arms' length out of the window, she
+glanced down at the bed, and seeing that it was ready, dropped her.  A
+tremendous cheer from the crowd told her that the little one was safe.
+
+Then she snatched up the second little girl, but the poor mite was
+terrified, and throwing her arms around Alice's neck cried piteously,
+'Don't throw me out of window!'  So tightly did the child cling to her
+that Alice had great difficulty in getting her into a proper position
+to drop her on to the bed, but she succeeded at last, and another loud
+cheer from the crowd announced that she had saved two lives.
+
+Scarcely five minutes had elapsed since the fire broke out, but the
+contents of the shop were such that the flames spread at a fearful
+rate, and the onlookers knew that if Alice Ayres did not jump quickly
+she would be burned to death.
+
+'Jump! jump!' they shouted excitedly.
+
+But there was a baby lying in the cot, and back Alice Ayres went,
+brought it safely through fire and smoke to the window, and dropped it
+out.  She had saved three lives!
+
+Weakened by the heat and the smoke, Alice Ayres now decided to leap
+from the window, and the anxious people in the street watched her in
+silence as she climbed to the window sill.  She jumped, but her body
+struck one of the large dummy jars above the front of the shop and
+caused her to fall head foremost on the bed, and then topple over on to
+the pavement with a sickening thud.  Quickly and tenderly she was
+lifted on to a shutter and carried into a neighbouring shop, where
+medical aid was soon at hand.
+
+In the meanwhile the firemen had arrived.  They had come as soon as
+they were called, but they arrived too late to save the other three
+inmates of the house from perishing in the flames.
+
+But the interest of the crowd was centred in the condition of Alice
+Ayres, and as she was being removed to Guy's Hospital there was
+scarcely a man or a woman present whose eyes were not filled with
+tears.  Many followed on to the hospital, in the hope of hearing the
+medical opinion of her condition, and before long it became known that
+she had fractured and dislocated her spine, and that there was no hope
+of her recovery.
+
+Alice Ayres died at Guy's Hospital on Sunday, April 26, 1885, aged 25,
+and at the inquest, when her coffin was covered with beautiful flowers
+sent from all parts of the land, the coroner declared that he should
+not be doing justice to the jury or the public, did he not give
+expression to the general feeling of admiration which her noble conduct
+had aroused.  In the hurry and excitement of a fire there were few who
+had the presence of mind to act as she had done, or who would run the
+risks she had for the sake of saving others.  He deeply regretted that
+so valuable a life, offered so generously, had been sacrificed.
+
+In the Postmen's Park, which adjoins the General Post Office, there is
+a cloister bearing the inscription, 'In Commemoration of Heroic
+Self-Sacrifice.'  Within it are tablets to the memory of heroes of
+humble life, and one of the most interesting of these is that on which
+is inscribed:--'Alice Ayres, daughter of a bricklayer's labourer, who
+by intrepid conduct saved three children from a burning house in Union
+Street, Borough, at the cost of her own young life.  April 24, 1885.'
+
+
+
+
+GRACE BUSSELL AND THE WRECK OF THE GEORGETTE
+
+The steamer Georgette had sprung a leak while on a voyage from
+Fremantle to Adelaide, and the captain knew that there was little hope
+of saving his ship.  But there were forty-eight passengers, including
+women and children, and to save these and the crew was the great desire
+of the captain.  The ship's lifeboat was lowered, but this too was in a
+leaky condition, and the eight persons who put off in it were drowned
+before the eyes of their friends on the Georgette.
+
+Seeing, soon, that there was absolutely no hope of saving his vessel,
+the captain decided to run her ashore, hoping by that means to be able
+to save all aboard her.  The vessel grounded some 180 miles south of
+Fremantle on December 2, 1876; but she was some distance from the
+shore, and it seemed to the captain that no boat could pass through the
+surf which would have to be crossed to reach land.  He swept the coast
+through his glass, but not a house or human being could he see, and he
+gave up all hope of receiving help from the shore.
+
+A boat was launched, but it had scarcely quitted the steamer's side
+when it capsized, and before the crew could right it and bring it back
+to the ship an hour had elapsed.  Once again it was lowered, but it
+capsized again in two and a half fathoms of water, and the women and
+children who escaped drowning clung to the overturned boat, and called
+to those aboard the steamer to save them.  But help did not come from
+that quarter.
+
+Grace Bussell, the sixteen years old daughter of an English settler who
+lived some twelve miles from the point opposite to which the Georgette
+had gone ashore, was riding through the bush, accompanied by a native
+stockman, and coming out towards the edge of the cliff saw the steamer
+in distress, and witnessed the overturning of the small boat.
+Horrified at the position of the poor people on the upturned boat, she
+moved her horse forward and descended the steep cliff.
+
+It was a terribly dangerous act, for had the horse slipped both beast
+and rider would have fallen to certain death.  Behind her, on his own
+horse, rode the stockman, which of course made the danger greater.
+
+But Grace Bussell made nothing of the danger she was undergoing, her
+sole thought being to reach the drowning people as quickly as possible.
+The passengers and crew of the Georgette, watching her with a strange
+fascination, expected every minute to see her fall and be killed.  To
+their astonishment she reached the beach in safety, and rode straight
+into the boiling surf.  The waves broke over her, and it seemed
+impossible that she would ever reach the upturned boat and rescue the
+exhausted people clinging to it.  Once the horse stumbled, but Grace
+was a skilful rider and pulled him up quickly.
+
+As she drew near to the boat, closely followed by the stockman, hope
+revived in the hearts of the shivering women and children clinging to
+it, and when at last she was alongside every mother besought her to
+take her child.  Quickly she placed two little ones before her on the
+saddle, and grasping hold of a third she started for the shore.  The
+stockman, with as many children as he could hold, rode close behind her.
+
+The journey outward had been difficult and dangerous, but now that her
+horse was carrying an extra load it was infinitely more so.  However,
+she proceeded slowly, and although on one or two occasions they were
+nearly swept away they reached the beach in safety.
+
+Having carefully placed her living load on dry land, she rode again
+into the raging sea.  Her progress was slower this time, but she
+returned to shore with children on her saddle and women clinging to her
+skirt on each side.
+
+Drenched to the skin and exhausted by the buffeting of the surf, Grace
+Bussell might have pleaded that she had not the strength to make
+another journey, but again and again, accompanied by the stockman, she
+rode out into the dangerous sea, and not until four hours had passed,
+and the last passenger was brought ashore, did she take a rest.
+
+Hungry, tired, and shivering with cold, she sank to the ground; but she
+soon noticed that many of those whom she had saved were more exhausted
+than she, and that unless food and warm clothing were given them
+quickly they would probably die.
+
+So, rising from the ground, she mounted her dripping horse and galloped
+off towards home.  The twelve miles were covered quickly, but on
+dismounting at her home Grace fainted, and it was some time before her
+anxious parents could discover what had caused her to be in such a
+drenched and exhausted condition.
+
+When at last she told the story of the shipwreck her sister got
+together blankets and food and rode off to the sufferers, whom she
+carefully tended throughout the night.  At daybreak Mr. Bussell arrived
+with his wagon, and conveyed the whole party to his home, where they
+remained tenderly nursed by mother and daughters for several days.
+Mrs. Bussell, it is sad to say, died from brain fever brought on by her
+anxiety concerning the shipwrecked people whom she had taken into her
+house.
+
+Grace Bussell's bravery was not allowed to pass unnoticed.  The Royal
+Humane Society presented her with its medal, and a medal was also
+bestowed upon the stockman who had accompanied his mistress down the
+steep cliff and on her many journeys to and from the upturned boat.
+
+
+
+
+CATHERINE VASSEUR, THE HEROINE OF NOYEN
+
+A terrible accident had occurred in one of the streets of Noyen.  The
+men engaged in repairing a sewer had, on finishing their day's work,
+neglected to take proper precautions for the safety of the public.
+They had placed some thin planks across the opening, but omitted to
+erect a barrier or to fix warning lights near the hole, with the result
+that four workingmen, homeward bound, stepped on the planks and fell
+through into the loathsome sewer.
+
+An excited crowd of French men and women gathered round the hole, but
+no one made any effort to rescue the poor fellows.  Soon the wives of
+the imperilled men, hearing of the accident, ran to the spot, and with
+tears in their eyes begged the men who were standing round the opening
+to descend and rescue their husbands.
+
+But not a man in the crowd was brave enough to risk his life for his
+fellow-men.  They would be suffocated and eaten by rats, was their
+excuse, and the frantic entreaties of the poor wives failed to stir
+them to act like men.  Women were crying and fainting, men were
+gesticulating and talking volubly, but nothing was being done to rescue
+the poor fellows from the poisonous sewer.
+
+But help came from an unexpected quarter.  Catherine Vasseur, a
+delicate-looking servant girl, seventeen years of age, pushed her way
+to the front, and said quietly, 'I'll go down and try to save them.'
+
+It seemed impossible that this slightly built young girl could rescue
+the men, but her willingness to make the attempt did not shame any of
+the strong fellows standing by into taking her place.  All they did was
+to lower her into the dark, loathsome hole.  On arriving at the bottom
+she quickly found the four unconscious men, and tying the ropes round
+two of them gave the signal for them to be hauled up.
+
+The few minutes' work on the poisonous atmosphere was already telling
+upon her, and finding herself gasping for breath she tied a rope around
+her waist, and was drawn to the surface.  The women whose husbands she
+had saved showered blessings upon her, and the other two implored her
+to rescue theirs.  She replied that she would do so if possible, and
+having regained her breath she again descended.
+
+A third man was rescued, but before she could attend to the fourth she
+felt herself becoming dazed.  She decided to go to the surface again,
+and return for the fourth man when the fresh air had revived her.  It
+was necessary that she should be drawn up quickly, but the rope which
+had been tied around her waist had become unfastened, and it was some
+minutes before she found it.  When she did find it she was too
+exhausted to draw it down to tie around her.  For a few moments she
+tugged at the heavy rope, but could not draw it lower than her head.
+
+There seemed to be no escape for her, when suddenly a bright idea
+occurred to her--she undid her long hair and tied it to the rope.  Then
+she gave the signal to haul up.
+
+Cries of horror and pity burst from the onlookers when they caught
+sight of the brave girl hanging by her hair, and apparently dead.
+Quickly untying her, they carried her into the fresh air, where she was
+promptly attended to by a doctor, who eventually succeeded in restoring
+her to consciousness.  She received the praise bestowed upon her with
+the modesty of a genuine heroine, and was greatly distressed at having
+been unable to save the fourth man.  The poor fellow was dead long
+before his body was recovered by the sewermen, for none of the men who
+had witnessed Catherine Vasseur's heroism had been brave enough to
+follow her example.
+
+
+
+
+MARY ROGERS AND THE WRECK OF THE STELLA
+
+It was at 11.25 on the morning of Thursday, March 30, 1899, that the
+steamship Stella left Southampton for Guernsey with 140 passengers and
+42 crew aboard.  Most of the passengers were looking forward to
+spending a pleasant Easter holiday at Guernsey or Jersey, but a few
+were natives of the Channel Islands returning from a visit to England.
+
+For the first two hours the voyage was uneventful, but at about 1.30
+the Stella ran into a dense fog.  The ship's speed was not reduced, but
+the fog-horn was kept going.  There is nothing more depressing at sea
+than the dismal hooting of the fog-horn, and it is not surprising that
+some of the ladies aboard the Stella became nervous.  These Mrs.
+Rogers, the stewardess, in a bright, cheery manner endeavoured to
+reassure.
+
+Mary Rogers' life had been one of hard work and self-denial.  Eighteen
+years previous to the Stella making her last trip Mary Rogers' husband
+had been drowned at sea, and the young widow was left with a little
+girl two years old to support; and a few weeks later a boy was born.
+To bring her children up carefully and have them properly educated
+became Mrs. Rogers' chief object in life, and to enable her to do this
+she obtained her position as stewardess.
+
+Her experience of the sea had been slight, and for five years after
+becoming stewardess she scarcely ever made a trip without being
+sea-sick.  Many women would have resigned the appointment in despair,
+but Mary Rogers stuck to her post for the sake of her children.  Ill
+though she might herself be, she always managed to appear happy, and to
+attend promptly to the requirements of the lady passengers.  When at
+last she was able to make a voyage without feeling sea-sick, her
+kindness to the ladies in her care became still more noticeable.  In
+foggy or rough weather her bright, sympathetic manner cheered the
+drooping spirits of all who might be ill or nervous.  At night she
+would go round, uncalled, and if she found any lady too nervous to
+sleep she would stay and talk to her for a time.
+
+Only a few months before the Stella's fatal trip, a lady passenger
+assured Mrs. Rogers that her bright, cheery sympathy had done much to
+make her trip pleasant.  'Well, you see, ma'am,' Mrs. Rogers replied,
+'I don't believe in going about with a sad face, and it is such a
+pleasure when one can help others.'
+
+At this time Mrs. Rogers' prospects were very bright.  Her children,
+whom she declared 'any mother might be proud of, they are so good,' had
+grown up, and her daughter was to be married in the summer.  In three
+years her son would finish his apprenticeship to a ship-builder, and it
+was settled that then she was to retire from sea-life and live with her
+daughter, continuing, as she had done for several years, to support her
+aged father.  But the days to which she was looking forward with
+pleasure she was never to see.
+
+For two hours the Stella ran through the dense fog on this fatal March
+30, and at about ten minutes to four the captain was under the
+impression that the Casquets lay eight miles to the east.  But suddenly
+they loomed out of the darkness, and almost immediately the Stella
+struck one of the dreaded rocks.  Instantly the captain saw that there
+was no hope of saving his ship.
+
+'Serve out the life-belts!'  'Out with the boats!'  'Women and children
+first!' were the orders he shouted from the bridge.
+
+Mrs. Rogers did not for a moment lose her presence of mind, and by her
+activity many women were saved who would in all probability never have
+reached the deck.  The ladies' saloon was long, but the door was
+somewhat narrow, and being round an awkward corner there would have
+been a fearful struggle to get through it, had a panic arisen.  But
+Mrs. Rogers, by her calmness and promptitude, prevented anything
+approaching a panic, and got her passengers quickly on deck.
+
+To all who had not provided themselves with them she gave life-belts,
+and then assisted them into the boats.  The last boat was nearly
+full--there was room for only one more--and the sailors in charge of it
+called to Mrs. Rogers to come into it.
+
+Before attempting to do so she took a last look round, to see that all
+the ladies were gone, and saw that there was one still there, and
+without a life-belt.  Instantly Mrs. Rogers took off her own, placed it
+upon her, led her to the boat, and gave up her last chance of escape.
+But the sailors who had witnessed her heroism did not wish to pull away
+without her.
+
+'Jump, Mrs. Rogers, jump!' they shouted.
+
+'No, no,' she replied, 'if I get in, the boat will sink.  Good-bye,
+good-bye.'
+
+Then raising her hands to heaven she cried, 'Lord, have me!' and almost
+immediately the ship sank beneath her.
+
+Seventy lives were lost in the wreck of the Stella, and the news of the
+terrible calamity cast a gloom over the Easter holidays.  An inquiry
+was held to determine the cause of the ship getting out of her course,
+but the result need not be mentioned here.  One thing that soon came to
+light was the story of Mary Rogers' heroism, which sent a thrill of
+admiration through all who heard it.
+
+Her well-spent life had been crowned with an act of heroism, and her
+memory is deserving of more than the tablet which has been placed in
+the Postmen's Park.
+
+
+
+
+MADELEINE BLANCHET
+
+THE HEROINE OF BUZANÇAIS
+
+The Red Republicans had risen.  The factories and private residences of
+the wealthy inhabitants of Buzançais were in flames, and owners of
+property, irrespective of age and sex, were being dragged from their
+hiding-places and murdered.
+
+For some months it had been rumoured that the Red Republicans,
+aggrieved at the high price of bread, intended to rise and kill all who
+possessed wealth; but the people of Buzançais paid no attention to
+these rumours, and were consequently unprepared to defend themselves
+when, on January 14, 1853, the rising occurred.  Had they banded
+themselves together, they could have quelled the riot, but, taken by
+the surprise, the majority sought safety in hiding.
+
+Meeting with no resistance, the Red Republicans pushed through the
+town, leaving behind them a trail of fire and blood, and came at last
+to a big house where lived Madame Chambert and her son.
+
+Madame Chambert was a kind old lady, and generous to the poor; but the
+Red Republicans, inflamed by wine which they had stolen from various
+houses, forgot her good deeds, and remembered only that she was
+wealthy.  And because she was wealthy they were determined to kill both
+her and her son.
+
+Madame Chambert and her son were in the drawing-room when the
+infuriated mob burst into the house.  It was useless to attempt to
+drive them out, as all the servants, with the exception of Madeleine
+Blanchet and a man, had deserted them.  At last the armed mob, their
+blouses stained with blood and wine, rushed into the drawing-room
+hurling insults at the poor old lady, and charging her with crimes
+which she had never committed.
+
+Madeleine Blanchet fainted on hearing her mistress so grossly insulted,
+but the man-servant rushed at the ringleader and knocked him down.  The
+half-drunk murderers were eager to kill the Chamberts at once, plunder
+the house, set light to it, and pass on; but as they stepped forward to
+kill the old lady her son fired his gun and killed one of them.
+
+The whole mob now rushed at Monsieur Chambert, who escaped from the
+room, but was caught before he could find a hiding-place, and hacked to
+death.
+
+In the meanwhile Madeleine Blanchet had recovered consciousness, and
+going to her mistress, whom she had served for nine years, she hurried
+her from the room to seek a place of safety.  But in the hall they came
+face to face with the murderers returning from committing their latest
+crime.  'Death! death!' they shouted, and attempted to strike the old
+lady, but Madeleine Blanchet, with one arm around her waist, received
+the blows intended for her.
+
+'Go, go, my poor girl!' Madame Chambert murmured.  'I must die here.
+Go away.'
+
+But Madeleine Blanchet refused to leave her, and shouted to the
+cowardly ruffians, 'You shall not kill my mistress until you have
+killed me!'
+
+Still parrying the blows aimed at her mistress, she implored the men
+not to be such cowards as to kill a helpless old lady.  This appeal and
+her devotion to her mistress touched the hearts of two of the Red
+Republicans, who declared that the old lady should not be killed while
+they could strike a blow in her defence.  Guarded by these two men,
+Madeleine Blanchet carried her mistress to a neighbour's house, where a
+hiding-place was found for her.
+
+Assured that her mistress was safe from further molestation, Madeleine
+Blanchet hurried back to the house, which the rioters were looting, and
+saved many treasures from falling into their hands.  This dangerous
+self-imposed task she performed several times.
+
+The Red Republicans' reign at Buzançais was terrible, but it was short.
+Scores of them were arrested, and Madeleine Blanchet was one of the
+witnesses for the prosecution.  She told of the attack upon her
+mistress's house and the murder of her young master, but not a word did
+she say concerning her own bravery.  The President of the Court had,
+however, heard of it, and was determined that her heroism should not be
+unknown because of her modesty.
+
+'We have been told,' he said to her, 'that you defended your mistress
+with your body from the blows of the murderers, and that you declared
+that they should kill you before they killed your mistress.  Is that
+true?'
+
+Madeleine replied that it was, and the President, after commending her
+for her bravery and devotion to her mistress, declared that if there
+had been twenty men in Buzançais with the courage she had shown, the
+rioters would have been quickly dispersed and the terrible crimes
+averted.  The story of Madeleine Blanchet's heroism spread rapidly
+throughout France, and the Academy made a popular award, when it
+presented her with a gold medal and five thousand francs.
+
+
+
+
+HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL
+
+On October 14, 1881, a gale raged throughout England, and in all parts
+of the country there was a terrible destruction of lives and property.
+Round our coasts ships were wrecked, and the number of lives lost at
+sea on that day was appalling, while on shore many people were killed
+by the falling of trees, chimney-pots and tiles.
+
+In Sutton, Lancashire, the gale raged with tremendous fury, and the
+children in the local National School, frightened by the roaring and
+shrieking of the wind, could pay little attention to their lessons.
+Hannah Rosbotham, the assistant mistress, was in charge of the school,
+the head mistress being absent through ill-health.  She was very
+popular among her pupils, and knew them all intimately, having herself
+lived all her life in the village, and having been educated at the
+school in which she was now a teacher.  She calmed the more timid of
+her pupils, and endeavoured to carry on the school as if nothing
+unusual were happening outside.
+
+While she was teaching the bigger children, the infants (little tots of
+three and four) were sitting in the gallery at the further end of the
+room in the care of a pupil teacher.  Over this gallery was the belfry,
+a large stone structure.  It had weathered many a storm, but none had
+equalled this gale.  Suddenly about 11 o'clock Hannah Rosbotham was
+startled by a loud rumbling, grinding noise, and almost at the same
+moment a portion of the belfry crashed through the roof and fell in
+pieces upon the poor little children in the gallery.
+
+Immediately there was a stampede.  The pupils and the pupil teachers
+rushed terror-stricken into the wind-swept playground, every one
+anxious for her own safety.  But Hannah Rosbotham did not fly from the
+danger; she thought only of the little children in the gallery.  The
+air was filled with dust, but she groped her way to the gallery
+staircase, which was littered with stone, wood and slates.  Hurrying up
+she found, to her great joy, that many of the little ones had escaped
+injury.  Some were crying, but others sat silent and terror-stricken,
+gazing at the spot where several of their little friends lay buried in
+the ruins.
+
+Having hurried out the children who had so wonderfully escaped injury,
+she set to work to rescue those who lay injured.  And the magnitude of
+the task which lay before her may be realised from the fact that
+sixteen-hundredweight of belfry-ruins had fallen through into the
+gallery.  Quickly and unaided Hannah Rosbotham tore away the timber,
+stone and slate that were crushing the little sufferers, whose pale
+faces and pleading voices filled her heart with anguish, but gave
+strength to her arms.  As she knelt tearing away with her bare hands
+the mass of ruins, fragments of stone and slate fell continuously
+around her, and she knew that at any moment she might be struck dead.
+The gale was still raging, and as she glanced up through the hole in
+the roof she saw the part of the belfry which had not yet given way.  A
+continuous shower of fragments fell from it, but if the remaining
+portion were blown down simultaneously, she and her infant pupils would
+be crushed to death.
+
+Working with tremendous energy she set free one by one the terrified
+young prisoners.  Some were very little hurt, and were able to hurry
+away into the playground, but there were others who had been severely
+injured, and these she had to carry away.
+
+At last her task was done, and happily without any serious results to
+herself.  Although she had been throughout her brave work surrounded by
+danger she escaped with nothing more serious than a few scratches.
+
+When she came into the playground with the last of the children she had
+rescued, she found that the villagers had arrived on the scene.  They
+had heard of the accident, and had come to seek their children, and
+having found them alive they joined in showering praise and blessings
+upon Hannah Rosbotham.  Now that all danger was over the brave young
+schoolmistress--she was only twenty years of age--broke down and cried
+hysterically, but before long she was calm again, and started out to
+visit at their homes the little ones whom she had saved.
+
+Such bravery as Hannah Rosbotham had shown could not of course escape
+recognition.  The Albert Medal was presented to her on January 11,
+1882, and later the Managers of the Sutton National School gave her a
+gold watch, on which was inscribed their appreciation 'of her
+courageous behaviour in rescuing the school-children during the gale of
+October 14, 1881, that destroyed the roof of the school, and for which
+act of bravery she has been awarded the Albert Medal by Her Majesty.'
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN THE MISSION FIELD
+
+
+JANE CHALMERS
+
+ALONE AMONGST CANNIBALS
+
+Alone among cannibals!  One can scarcely imagine a more terrifying
+experience for a white woman.  No matter how friendly people around
+might be, the knowledge that they were by long habit cannibals, whose
+huts were adorned with human skulls, would be sufficient to strike
+terror to the heart of the bravest.  One woman is known to have
+experienced this trying ordeal, and she was a missionary's wife.
+
+In the life of that noble missionary, James Chalmers,[1] we get
+glimpses of a woman who was indeed a heroine, and who had the
+unpleasant experience of being left for a time, without any white
+companions, in the midst of cannibals.  This was Jane Chalmers the
+martyr-missionary's first wife.
+
+Jane Hercus was married to Chalmers in October, 1865, and in the
+following January they sailed for Australia on their way to the South
+Sea Islands.  At the very outset of their missionary career danger
+assailed them.  A gale sprang up in the Channel, and for a time it was
+believed that the ship and everyone aboard her would be lost.
+Providentially, however, their vessel weathered the storm, although so
+much damaged that she had to put into Weymouth, and remain there a
+fortnight for repairs.  On May 20 they arrived in Adelaide, and in
+August sailed from Sydney for the New Hebrides; but while approaching
+Aneiteum, to land some passengers, the ship struck an unseen reef, and
+could not be got off until some days had elapsed.  Temporary repairs
+were made, and with men working at the pumps day and night the ship
+slowly made her way back to Sydney.  After six weeks' enforced stay at
+Sydney, Jane Chalmers and her husband made another start for their
+destination, which, however, they were not to reach without further
+danger.
+
+On January 8 the ship struck on a reef which surrounds Savage Island,
+and became a total wreck, but happily, without loss of life, as the
+passengers and crew managed to get off in the boats.  They reached
+shore in safety, but although Jane Chalmers was ill for some time,
+neither she nor her husband were discouraged.
+
+Six weeks after the wreck of the ship, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers left on a
+schooner for Samoa, and during the voyage Mrs. Chalmers' health
+improved.  After a six weeks' stay at Samoa Chalmers and his wife
+sailed for Rarotonga, and on May 20, 1867, arrived there.  In that
+beautiful island Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers settled down at once to work.
+'The natives,' Mrs. Chalmers wrote, 'have to be treated in all things
+more like children at home than men.  They soon get weary and
+discouraged in any work, but a few words of praise or encouragement put
+fresh spirit within them.'  Missionaries had laboured at Rarotonga
+before the arrival of the Chalmers, and the work was not exactly the
+type which James Chalmers desired.  He longed to be a missionary to the
+heathen; but it was not until he had spent ten years at Rarotonga that
+his desire was gratified by his being appointed to New Guinea, then a
+comparatively unknown land, the people of which were savages of the
+most degraded type.
+
+At Dunedin, where the Chalmers stayed for a time, Mrs. Chalmers was
+frequently urged to remain behind until her husband was settled in his
+new home.  'No,' she replied on every occasion 'my place is by my
+husband's side.'  And so this brave woman, in spite of the
+protestations of her friends, went forth with her husband to live among
+cannibals.  The first native who spoke to Mrs. Chalmers on their
+arrival at Suau was wearing a necklace of human bones, and wishing to
+be gracious to her, this same cannibal offered her later a portion of a
+man's breast ready cooked!  Signs of cannibalism were to be found
+everywhere, and the chief's house in which the Chalmers took up their
+residence until their own was built, was hung with human skulls.  Such
+sights as Jane Chalmers witnessed were bad enough to appal any woman,
+but she bore up bravely, and was soon busy learning the language from a
+young warrior, whom, in return, she taught knitting and tatting.  Both
+she and her husband made friends quickly, and some of their new
+friends, intending to please them, invited the missionary and his wife
+to a cannibal feast.
+
+Nevertheless, it was not long before the Chalmers were in great danger
+of losing their lives.  The vessel which had brought them to New Guinea
+was still standing off the island, and the natives, in an attempt to
+capture it, had one of their number killed.  For this they demanded
+compensation from Chalmers, who, of course, was in no way responsible
+for the man's death.  Chalmers promised to give them compensation on
+the following day, but the natives demanded that it should be given
+immediately, and departed very sulkily when their request was refused.
+Later in the day a native warned Chalmers that he, his wife, and his
+teachers from Rarotonga had better get away to the ship during the
+night, as the natives had decided to murder them early in the following
+morning.  Chalmers told his wife what the native had said, and added,
+'It is for you to decide.  Shall we men stay, and you women go, as
+there is not room enough for us all on the vessel? or shall we try all
+of us to go? or shall we all stay?'
+
+'We have come here to preach the Gospel and do these people good,' Mrs.
+Chalmers replied.  'God, whom we serve, will take care of us.  We will
+stay.  If we die, we die; if we live, we live.'
+
+Then the teachers' wives were asked if they would like to go aboard the
+ship, but their answer was that whatever Mrs. Chalmers did they would
+do.  Therefore it was decided that they should all stay.
+
+During the night the little band of Christians could hear the war-horn
+calling the natives together, and the shouts of the cannibals as they
+came in from all parts.
+
+In the meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers had made up in parcels the
+compensation which they intended to offer the people; but when, at four
+o'clock in the morning, the chief arrived to make a last demand he
+declared that they were not sufficient.
+
+'If you will wait till the steamer comes I may be able to give you
+more,' Chalmers said, 'but at present I cannot.'
+
+'I must have more now,' the chief declared, and departed.
+
+The attack was now expected every minute, but hour after hour passed
+and the natives did not re-appear.  At three o'clock in the morning
+Chalmers turned in, but he had not long been asleep when his wife
+discovered the cannibals approaching.  Chalmers, aroused by his wife,
+ran to the door and faced the savages.
+
+'What do you want?' he asked.
+
+'Give us more compensation,' the leader replied, 'or we will kill you
+and burn the house.'
+
+'Kill you may, but no more compensation do I give,' Chalmers answered.
+'Remember that if we die, we shall die fighting.'
+
+Then Chalmers took down his musket and loaded it in sight of the
+cannibals, who, having seen the missionary shoot birds, feared his
+skill.  They withdrew and discussed what to do.  For about an hour and
+a half the band of Christians waited for the attack to be made.  Many
+of them were, naturally enough, much distressed at the thought of being
+killed and eaten, but throughout this trying time Jane Chalmers
+remained calm, assured that whatever might happen would be in
+accordance with God's will.
+
+But the Chalmers' life-work was not yet ended.  The chief of the
+village decided that they should not be killed.  'Before this white man
+came here with his friends I was nobody,' he said to the men who had
+assembled from other parts of New Guinea.  'They have brought me
+tomahawks, hoop-iron, red beads and cloth.  You have no white man, and
+if you try to kill him, you kill him over my body.'
+
+It would have been only natural if Jane Chalmers, after the experiences
+she had undergone, had decided that she could no longer live at Suau;
+but no such thought ever entered her head.  Some months later she did
+as not one woman in a million would have done--remained for six weeks
+among cannibals with not another white person in the place.
+
+Her husband sailed away to visit the native preachers at other
+villages, but she remained behind because she did not think it right
+that they should both leave their Rarotongan teachers so soon after the
+disturbances already described.  The natives promised Chalmers, before
+he departed, that they would treat her kindly; and although the
+temptation to kill and eat her must often have been great, they kept
+their promise.  But nevertheless she knew that her life might be ended
+at any moment, and it is easy to imagine her feelings when, one night
+as she was preparing for bed, she heard a commotion outside the house,
+men and women shouting and screaming loudly.  One of the teachers went
+out to discover the meaning of the uproar, and returned with the
+comforting news that there was an eclipse of the moon, and that the
+natives were alarmed because they believed it would cause many of them
+to die.
+
+The cannibals were very proud of having taken care of Mrs. Chalmers,
+and received with a conviction that they had well earned them, the
+presents and thanks which her husband, on his return, bestowed upon
+them.  At the same time Mrs. Chalmers' pluck in remaining among them
+made a great impression on the cannibals, and caused them to have more
+confidence than ever in the missionaries.
+
+But although Jane Chalmers was as full of courage and faith as when she
+arrived at Suau the trials and excitement of the life she had led there
+began to impair her health.  Nevertheless, she did not complain, and
+when the mission at Suau was established on a sound footing she
+accompanied her husband on a voyage along the coast to visit places
+where a white man had never yet been seen; but eventually it became
+plain to herself and her husband that she needed rest and nursing.
+Accordingly she sailed for Sydney, to wait there until her husband
+could follow and take her to England.  But they never met again.  The
+doctors at Sydney pronounced her to be suffering from consumption, and
+held out little hope of her recovery.  She, however, was very hopeful,
+and believed that before long she might be able to return to her
+husband at New Guinea.  But this was not to be, and this heroic woman
+passed away before her husband's arrival.
+
+
+
+[1] _James Chalmers, his Autobiography and Letters_, by Richard Lovett,
+M.A.  (Religious Tract Society.)
+
+
+
+
+ANNA HINDERER, AND THE GOSPEL IN THE YORUBA COUNTRY
+
+'The White Man's Grave' and 'No White Man's Land' are the ominous names
+that have been bestowed on several unhealthy countries where Europeans
+have been compelled to reside; but there were none, fifty years ago,
+more deserving of being so described than Ashantee, Dahomey, and the
+Yoruba country.  Nothing but the prospect of growing rich rapidly would
+persuade a white man, unless he were a missionary, to live in any of
+those countries, and a European woman was almost unknown there.
+
+One of the first white women to risk the dangers of the Yoruba climate
+was Anna Hinderer, to whom belongs the honour of being the first of her
+colour to visit Ibadan.  It was not, however, a mere visit that she
+paid to this unhealthy West African town; for seventeen years she lived
+there with her husband, devoting herself almost entirely to educating
+the native children.
+
+Her mother died when she was five years old, and it was probably owing
+to her own childhood being sad and lonely that Anna Martin, afterwards
+Mrs. Hinderer, early in life began to take an interest in the welfare
+of poor and neglected children.  In 1839, when only twelve years of
+age, she went to live with her grandfather at Lowestoft, and soon made
+two lifelong friends.  They were the Rev. Francis Cunningham, Vicar of
+Lowestoft, and his wife, who was sister of that noble Quakeress,
+Elizabeth Fry.  The friendship began by Anna Martin asking Mrs.
+Cunningham to be allowed to take a Sunday School class.  She feared
+that being only twelve years old her request would not be entertained,
+but to her great joy it was granted at once.  A little later she went
+to live with the Cunninghams, and was never so happy as when assisting
+in some good work.  When only fourteen years of age she started a class
+for ragged and neglected children, and eventually she had as many as
+two hundred pupils.  Many other schemes for the happiness of children
+were suggested by her, and, with the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham,
+successfully carried out.
+
+Anna Martin had long wished to be a missionary when she made the
+acquaintance of the Rev. David Hinderer, who had returned to England
+after labouring for four years in the Yoruba country, which stretches
+inland from the Bight of Benin almost to the Niger Territory, and is
+bordered on the west by Dahomey.  Anna Martin was deeply interested in
+all that Mr. Hinderer told her of his little-known land, where lived
+some three million heathen, broken up into many tribes, but speaking
+one language.  Before long the missionary asked Anna Martin to become
+his wife, and on October 14, 1852, they were married at the old parish
+church of Lowestoft.
+
+Seven weeks after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer started for
+Africa, and arrived at Lagos on Christmas Eve.  Mrs. Hinderer had
+suffered greatly from sea-sickness throughout the voyage, and three
+weeks after her arrival at Lagos she had her first attack of African
+fever.  It was a sharp one, and left her very weak, but as soon as she
+was sufficiently strong to travel they started in canoes for Abeokuta.
+This was indeed a trying journey for a young woman who had been
+accustomed to the comforts of a well-to-do English home; but she had,
+of course, made up her mind to bear hardships in her Master's service,
+and whether they were sleeping in a village or in a tent pitched by the
+river-side, with fires lighted to keep wild beasts at a distance, she
+made no complaint.  Sometimes she was home-sick, but these natural fits
+of depression soon passed away.
+
+On arriving at Abeokuta Anna Hinderer had another severe attack of
+fever, which, as she stated in her diary, edited many years later by
+Archdeacon Hone, and published with the title _Seventeen Years in the
+Yoruba Country_, left her so weak that she could hardly lift her hand
+to her head.  Her husband was also down with fever; a missionary with
+whom they were staying died of it; and, a few weeks later, another
+missionary passed suddenly away.  A more gloomy beginning to a young
+worker's missionary career there could scarcely have been, but Anna
+Hinderer was far from being disheartened, and was eager to reach their
+destination.
+
+At last they arrived at Ibadan.  Mr. Hinderer had made known that he
+was bringing her, and when the news, 'the white mother is come,' spread
+through the village, men, women and children rushed out to see her.
+Very few of them had ever seen a white woman, for, as already stated,
+Anna Hinderer was the first to visit Ibadan, and their curiosity was
+somewhat embarrassing.  They followed her to her new home, and for days
+hung about in crowds, anxious to catch a glimpse of her.
+
+The mission-house was not an attractive or comfortable place.  It
+consisted of one room, 30 feet by 6.  Anna Hinderer had to exercise her
+ingenuity in making it appear homelike.  How she managed to do this we
+gather from the following extract from a letter written by Dr. Irving,
+R.N., who visited Ibadan shortly after they had settled down:--
+
+'Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer at present live in such a funny little place;
+quite a primitive mud dwelling, where no two persons can walk abreast
+at one time.  And yet there is an air of quiet domestic comfort and
+happiness about it that makes it a little palace in my eyes.  It is
+unfortunate, however, for my temples, for in screwing in at one door
+and out at the other, forgetting to stoop at the proper time, my head
+gets many a knock.  At one end, six feet square, is the bedroom,
+separated from the dining-room by a standing bookcase; my bedroom is at
+one end of this, formed by a sofa, and my privacy established by a
+white sheet, put across for a screen at bedtime.'
+
+In a very short time Anna Hinderer became popular with the women and
+children, and set to work to learn the language.  The boys being eager
+to learn English she would point to a tree, pig, horse, or anything
+near by, and the youngsters would tell her the Yoruba name for it.  In
+return she told them the English name.  But long before she had
+acquired anything like a useful knowledge of the language she managed
+to make the women and children understand that Sunday was a day of
+rest, and was delighted to see that many of them followed her example
+and gave up their Sunday occupations.  The women were indeed deeply
+attached to her.  If she looked hot they fanned her, and whenever they
+saw that she was tired they insisted upon her sitting down.  When she
+had an attack of fever they were greatly distressed, and constantly
+inquiring how she was progressing.
+
+Having at last acquired a fair knowledge of the Yoruba language, Anna
+Hinderer started a day school for children, and to nine little boys who
+were regular in their attendance she gave a blue shirt each, of which
+they were immensely proud.  A little later she prevailed upon a chief
+to allow his two children to come and live with her.  One was a girl
+six years of age, and the other her brother, two years younger.
+Throughout the day the little ones were very happy, but towards evening
+the girl wanted to go home.  She was evidently frightened, and was
+overheard saying to her brother, "Don't stay.  When it gets dark the
+white people kill and eat the black."  Both, then, ran off home, but
+returned the following morning.  A few days later the boy, in spite of
+his sister's warnings, stayed all night.  The girl left him in great
+distress, and at daybreak was waiting outside the mission-house,
+anxious to see if he were still alive.  Her astonishment on finding
+that he had been treated as kindly after dark as during daylight was
+great.
+
+It was no easy task to manage a school of native children, but,
+nevertheless, the experience she had gained among the Lowestoft
+children made the task lighter than otherwise it would have been.
+'Happy, happy years were those I spent with you,' she wrote to Mr.
+Cunningham, 'and entirely preparatory they have been for my work and
+calling.'  She managed to impress upon her dusky little pupils that it
+was necessary to wash more than once or twice a week, and that they
+must keep quiet during school and service.
+
+One day while her husband was preaching he referred to idols, and
+quoted the Psalm, 'They have mouths, and speak not.'  No sooner had he
+said this than Mrs. Hinderer's boys burst into loud laughter, and
+shouted, in their own language, 'True, very true.'
+
+Soon after their temporary church--a large shed covered with palm
+leaves--had been completed and opened there came a period of trial.
+Mrs. Hinderer's horse stumbled and fell upon her, and although no bones
+were broken she found later that she had received an injury which
+troubled her until her death.  No sooner had she recovered from the
+shaking she had received, than her husband had a bad attack of fever.
+It was believed that he would die, but she nursed him day and night,
+and eventually had the great joy of seeing him recover.  But soon she
+was seriously ill.  Inflammation of the lungs set in, and for a time
+her life seemed to be drawing to a close, but she recovered, and was
+before long once more at work among the women and children.
+
+It was about this time that Mrs. Hinderer wrote to her Lowestoft
+friends:--'You will not think me egotistical, but this I do think, if I
+am come to Africa for nothing else, I have found the way to a few
+children's hearts, and, if spared, I think I shall not, with God's
+blessing, find it very difficult to do something with them.  My boys
+that I have now would never tell me an untruth, or touch a cowry or
+anything they should not.  This is truly wonderful in heathen boys,
+brought up all their lives, hitherto, in the midst of every kind of
+deceit.'
+
+After a stay at Abeokuta for the benefit of her health, Anna Hinderer
+returned to Ibadan, to find the new church and mission-house finished.
+The natives had taken great interest in the building of the
+mission-house, and, soon after the Hinderers' return, the head chief,
+accompanied by his wives and a host of attendants, came to see it.
+They received a cordial welcome, but so many people swarmed into the
+house that Mr. Hinderer began to fear it would collapse, and had to
+keep out scores who wished to enter.  The chief found much to amuse him
+in this European-furnished house, and was immensely amused when for the
+first time he saw himself in a looking-glass.  His wives were shown
+round by Mrs. Hinderer, and arriving at the bed-room they pointed to a
+washstand and asked its use.  For reply Mrs. Hinderer poured out some
+water and washed her hands.  Now the chief's wives had never before
+seen soap, and to dry their hands after washing was a proceeding of
+which they had never heard; therefore each became anxious to there and
+then wash their hands in European fashion.  Water was splashed about
+the floor and wall, and when they wiped their hands the indigo dye from
+their clothes ruined the towel.
+
+Anna Hinderer, although frequently in bad health, continued her work
+among the children with unabated enthusiasm, and in November, 1885, she
+had the joy of seeing eight of them baptized.  Two months later the
+state of her health made it imperative that she should proceed to Lagos
+for a rest.  Her husband accompanied her, but both were eager to get
+back to their work, and were absent for only a few weeks.  But during
+that short time much had happened at Ibadan.  The natives had begun to
+persecute the converts, and some had forbidden their children to attend
+the church or mission-school.
+
+One girl who refused to give up attending church was shamefully
+treated.  A rope was tied round her body, and she was dragged through
+the streets while the mob beat her with sticks and stoned her.  As she
+lay bleeding and half dead the native idols were brought out and placed
+before her.  'Now she bows down,' the mob cried; but the girl answered.
+'No, I do not; you have put me here.  I can never bow down to gods of
+wood and stone who cannot hear me.'  Eventually, after suffering
+ill-treatment daily, she ran away to Abeokuta.
+
+For the next seven months Anna Hinderer continued without ceasing to
+teach the children, nurse those who were sick, and adopt any little
+girl-baby who had been deserted by her inhuman parents.  Then Mr.
+Hinderer, after six months' illness, was stricken with yellow fever,
+and it became imperative that he should go to England for his health's
+sake.  On August 1, 1856, Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer sailed from Lagos for
+home.  And yet Anna Hinderer did not feel as if she were going home,
+but that she were leaving it, for Ibadan was beloved by her.  Husband
+and wife were in bad health throughout the voyage, and the captain's
+parting words to the latter as she went ashore at England were:--'You
+must not come to sea again; it cannot be your duty.  A few more voyages
+must kill you.'  Nevertheless, two years later, Anna Hinderer and her
+husband, restored in health, were back at Ibadan.
+
+Two years of hard work followed.  The school was filled, the natives
+had ceased from persecuting the converts, and the prospects of
+missionary work were brighter than ever, when suddenly the news came
+that the fiendish King of Dahomey was marching on Abeokuta.  Mr. and
+Mrs. Hinderer were at Abeokuta when the news arrived, and at once they
+hastened back to Ibadan, although there was a danger of being captured
+and tortured by the invading force.  They reached Ibadan in safety,
+only, however, to find that the chief of that place was at war with the
+chief of Ijaye, a neighbouring town.  The place was full of excitement
+and a human sacrifice was offered, the victim, prior to the ceremony,
+walking proudly through the town.
+
+Anna Hinderer and her husband could at first have made their way to the
+coast, but they decided to remain with their converts and pupils.  It
+was a bitter war, and soon the Hinderers were cut off from all
+communication with their fellow-missionaries in the Yoruba country.
+Supplies ran short, and they were compelled to sell their personal
+belongings to obtain food for themselves and the children.  'We sold a
+counterpane and a few yards of damask which had been overlooked by us;'
+runs an entry in Anna Hinderer's diary, 'so that we indulge every now
+and then in one hundred cowries' worth of meat (about one pennyworth),
+and such a morsel seems a little feast to us in these days.'  Many of
+the native women were exceedingly kind to Anna Hinderer in the time of
+privation.  The woman who had supplied them with milk insisted upon
+sending it regularly, although told that they had no money to pay for
+it.
+
+For four years the Hinderers were almost entirely cut off from
+communication with the outer world, but they continued their labours
+unceasingly throughout this trying time.  The girls' sewing class had,
+however, to be discontinued, for the very good reason that their stock
+of needles and cotton was exhausted.  It was a time of great privation,
+but Anna Hinderer, although frequently compelled to endure the gnawing
+pangs of hunger, always managed to keep her native children supplied
+with food.
+
+At last relief came.  The Governor of Lagos had made one or two
+unsuccessful attempts to relieve the Hinderers, and in April, 1865,
+devised a means of escape.  He despatched Captain Maxwell with a few
+trustworthy men, to cut a new track through the bush.
+
+It was a difficult undertaking, but successfully accomplished, and one
+night, about ten o'clock, the Hinderers were surprised to see Captain
+Maxwell enter the mission-house.  He brought with him supplies, and
+also a hammock for Mrs. Hinderer's use on the return journey.
+
+It was somewhat of a surprise to the gallant officer to find that the
+missionaries for whom he had performed a difficult and dangerous
+journey were by no means anxious to return with him.  It was the more
+surprising as it was plain that both were in very bad health.  Mr.
+Hinderer declared that he could not possibly leave his mission at seven
+hours' notice, but he joined the captain in urging his wife to go,
+assuring her that it was her duty to do so.  At last she was prevailed
+upon to avail herself of the means of escape.  She was overcome with
+grief at leaving her husband shut up in Ibadan, and her distress was
+increased by her inability to say 'good-bye' to the little native
+children to whom she had acted a mother's part.  They were asleep, and
+to have awakened them would have been unwise, for there would certainly
+have been loud crying, had the little ones been told that their "white
+mother" was leaving them.  Their crying would have been heard beyond
+the mission-house compound, and the news of Mrs. Hinderer's approaching
+departure would have spread through the town, in which there were
+probably spies of the enemy.
+
+Seven hours after Captain Maxwell arrived he began his dangerous return
+journey, his men carrying Mrs. Hinderer in the hammock.  They proceeded
+by forced marches, keeping at the same time a sharp look-out for the
+enemy, who would, they knew, promptly kill any Christian who fell into
+their power.  On several occasions they suddenly found themselves so
+close to the enemy that they could hear their voices, but, fortunately,
+they were not discovered.  On the third day, however, they heard that
+their departure had become known to the enemy, who was in hot pursuit.
+It was a terribly anxious time for the invalid missionary, but Captain
+Maxwell and his men were determined that she should not be captured.
+Silently and without halting once, even for food, they hurried on hour
+after hour, and finally arrived at Lagos, having done a six days'
+journey in less than three and a half.  So carefully had Captain
+Maxwell's men carried Anna Hinderer that she was little the worse for
+the journey, and after a few days' rest sailed for England.  Two months
+later her husband followed.
+
+In the autumn of the following year Anna Hinderer and her husband
+returned to Ibadan, where they were received joyfully.  Anna Hinderer
+resumed her work with all her former enthusiasm and love, although she
+found before long that she had not sufficient strength to do all that
+she had done formerly.
+
+Two years later the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes decided to expel
+all white men from their territory, and they urged the Ibadan chiefs to
+adopt a similar policy.  The only white people in Ibadan were the
+missionaries, and these they refused to expel.  Announcing their
+decision to the Hinderers, the chiefs said: 'We have let you do your
+work, and we have done ours, but you little know how closely we have
+watched you.  Your ways please us.  We have not only looked at your
+mouths but at your hands, and we have no complaint to lay against you.
+Just go on with your work with a quiet mind; you are our friends, and
+we are yours.'
+
+Another two years of hard work followed.  The schools were flourishing,
+and among the pupils were children of the little ones whom, many years
+previously, Anna Hinderer had taken into her home and cared for.  The
+chiefs continued to be friendly, and only one thing was wanting to make
+Anna Hinderer perfectly happy.  Frequent attacks of fever had so
+weakened her that she began to feel that the work was beyond her
+strength.  Her husband, too, was never free from pain.  They recognised
+that they could not live much longer in Africa.  Gladly they would have
+remained and died at Ibadan, but for the knowledge that their work
+could now be better carried on by younger missionaries.  So with a sad
+heart Anna Hinderer bade farewell to the people among whom she had
+bravely toiled for seventeen years.  She had lost the sight of one eye,
+and the specialist whom she consulted in London assured her that had
+she remained much longer in Africa she would have become totally blind.
+
+Although in a very weak state of health Anna Hinderer was not content
+to remain idle, and in her native county of Norfolk began to interest
+herself in factory girls and other children of the poor.  She was
+always cheerful, and few people knew how much she was suffering from
+the effects of years of hard work and privation in a pestilential
+country.  She died on June 6, 1870, aged forty-three; and when the sad
+news reached Ibadan there was great sorrow in the town, and the
+Christian Church which she had helped to plant there forwarded to her
+husband a letter of consolation and thankfulness for the work which she
+had done among them.
+
+
+
+
+ANN JUDSON, PIONEER WOMAN IN BURMA
+
+Ann Judson was not only the first American woman to enter the foreign
+mission field, but also the first lady missionary, or missionary's
+wife, to visit Rangoon.  She was the daughter of Mr. John Hasseltine,
+of Bradford, Massachusetts, and was born on December 22, 1789.  When
+nearly seventeen years of age she became deeply impressed by the
+preaching of a local minister, and decided to do all in her power
+towards spreading the Gospel.  Sunday Schools had been started in
+America about 1791, but they were very few.  Bradford did not possess
+one, and probably it was not known there that such schools existed
+anywhere.  Ann Hasseltine, being desirous of instructing the children
+in religious knowledge, adopted the only course which occurred to her
+as likely to lead to success; she became a teacher in an ordinary day
+school.
+
+When she had been engaged in this and other Christian work about four
+years, she made the acquaintance of Adoniram Judson, a young man who
+had recently been accepted for work in the East Indies, by the newly
+formed American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.  Before
+they had known each other many months, Judson asked Ann Hasseltine to
+become his wife and accompany him to India.  He did not conceal from
+her that in all probability her life as a missionary's wife would be
+full of hardships and trials, but, after considering the matter for
+some days, she promised to marry him, providing that her father gave
+his consent.  Judson wrote to Mr. Hasseltine, and after stating that he
+had asked his daughter to become his wife, and that she had consented,
+continued: 'I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your
+daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether
+you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection
+to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can
+consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal
+influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and
+distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent
+death.  Can you consent to all this for the sake of Him who left His
+heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing
+immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?  Can you
+consent to all this, in the hope of soon meeting your daughter in the
+world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the
+acclamation of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens
+saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?'
+
+Mr. Hasseltine gave his consent, and on February 5, 1812, his daughter
+was married to Adoniram Judson.  It had now become known throughout the
+United States that Mrs. Judson intended to accompany her husband to the
+mission field, and in all quarters her intention was denounced.  She
+was accused of being both imprudent and lacking in modesty.  These
+attacks caused Ann Judson considerable pain, but they did not weaken
+her determination to accompany her husband.  They sailed for India on
+February 12, and landed at Calcutta on June 18.  On the voyage they had
+for fellow passengers some Baptist missionaries, and the result of
+their intercourse with them was that ten days after their arrival at
+Calcutta they were baptised.  By this step they lost the support of the
+Board of Commissioners who had sent them out, but aid was soon sent
+them by the American Baptists.
+
+Missionary work in India was almost at a standstill when the Judsons
+arrived at Calcutta.  The East India Company had issued an order,
+withdrawn, however, in the following year, forbidding missionaries to
+carry on their work in the Company's territory.  The Judsons received
+notice to depart before they had been in the country many months, and
+were undecided where to go.  They were anxious to settle in Rangoon,
+but everyone assured them that Lower Burma was not yet ripe for
+missionary work.  The Burmese were described to them as little better
+than fiends, and stories were told of Europeans who had met with
+torture and death at their hands.
+
+Nevertheless, the Judsons sailed for Rangoon, and in July, 1813, were
+ascending the Rangoon River, delighted with their first glimpse of the
+country.  On either side of the mighty river was dense jungle,
+extending far inland.  Here and there along the banks were small
+fishing villages, with quaint little wooden huts built on tall poles to
+prevent their being flooded or invaded by tigers, cheetahs or snakes.
+Near every village were several pagodas whose spires rose above the
+jungle; and there were many pagodas standing far from any habitation.
+
+As the Judsons drew near to Rangoon they saw on the hill, near by, the
+great Shway Dagon Pagoda with its tall, gilded spire shining in the sun
+with a brilliancy that was dazzling.  But soon they turned from gazing
+at the Mecca of the Burmese Buddhists to view the town, a big
+collection of bamboo and mat huts protected by forts with guns, which
+the people fondly believed would utterly destroy any foreign fleet
+which dared to ascend the river.  Many trading vessels were riding at
+anchor off the city, and canoes of various sizes and design were
+passing to and from them.  It was a busy scene, made bright by the
+gorgeous turbans of the rowers, and the brilliant attire of high
+officials.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Judson landed at Rangoon not only unmolested, but with a
+friendly greeting from the natives.  These swarmed round them smiling
+pleasantly, and exhibiting none of the appearances of
+atrocity-perpetrators.  The women were greatly interested in Mrs.
+Judson, and when she smiled at them they laughed merrily.  This
+unexpectedly pleasant reception greatly cheered the Judsons, and made
+them eager to begin work.  But before they could do this they had to
+learn the Burmese language, not a word of which they knew.  They could
+not obtain an interpreter, for the reason that no one, with the
+exception of a few merchants, understood English.  The European
+merchants who at that time lived in Burma were, with scarcely an
+exception, men of poor character.  A missionary was the last person
+these men would welcome or help.
+
+Having settled down in their home, Mr. and Mrs. Judson began to learn
+the Burmese language, a difficult task, considering that they had
+neither dictionary nor grammar to assist them.  Mrs. Judson, having to
+buy food and superintend her servants, soon learnt a few Burmese
+sentences, but her husband was learning the language scientifically,
+with the intention of eventually translating the Bible into Burmese.
+When both knew sufficient Burmese to make themselves understood, they
+engaged teachers to help them with their studies.
+
+Two years passed, and Mr. and Mrs. Judson were still learning the
+language.  In September, 1815, a son was born to them, but to their
+great grief he died eight months later, through want of medical
+attention.  When the child was buried, some forty Burmese and
+Portuguese followed the body to the grave.
+
+In December, 1815, Mr. and Mrs. Judson began to make known to the
+people the Gospel they had come to Burma to preach.  Until then they
+had wisely refrained from doing so, knowing that mistakes they might
+make in their speech would bring ridicule upon their religion.  But now
+that they were confident of their knowledge of the language they
+started hopefully on the work of winning converts.
+
+The time to which they had long looked forward had arrived, but the
+success which they had expected was not achieved.  The natives listened
+attentively to everything Mr. or Mrs. Judson said to them, but their
+answer was usually, 'Our religion is good for us, yours for you.'  Some
+laughed, good-humouredly, at the idea of the missionaries expecting
+them to give up the religion of their forefathers for that of the white
+_kalas_[1] from across the sea, and others declared that they were mad.
+No one, however, suggested that they should be forbidden to attempt to
+gain converts.  It did not seem worth while interfering with them; for
+what Burman living in sight of the Shway Dagon Pagoda, and near to the
+monasteries where he had learnt the precepts of Guatama Buddha, would
+even think of forsaking his religion?
+
+This indifference of the Burmese was very disheartening to the Judsons,
+and when a year had passed without their having made the slightest
+impression upon any native they might well have been discouraged.  But
+this was far from being the case, and in October, 1816, they were able
+to look forward with still greater confidence to seeing their labour
+crowned with success.  The printing press which they had long been
+expecting arrived, and two Burmese tracts which Mr. Judson had prepared
+were printed and circulated.  One was a clear explanation of
+Christianity, the other a translation of the Gospel according to
+Matthew.  The result of the wide distribution of these tracts was not
+such as the Judsons had expected.  One or two Burmans made a few
+enquiries concerning the subject of the tracts, but when their
+curiosity was satisfied they showed no further interest in the matter.
+Three years of steady hard work followed.  Mrs. Judson continued her
+efforts to win the women, and gathered around her every Sunday a large
+number to whom she read the Scriptures.  Her husband had in the
+meanwhile finished his dictionary of the Burmese language, a work for
+which successive generations of British officials, merchants and
+missionaries have had cause to be thankful, and in 1819 began to preach
+on Sundays.  Hitherto he had been speaking to individuals; now he
+addressed himself to crowds.
+
+The place in which he preached was a _zayat_ or rest-house, a big
+one-room building erected for the convenience of pilgrims who came to
+worship at the Shway Dagon Pagoda.  There was no furniture in the
+place, and the pilgrims, or any one else who cared to enter, squatted
+on the floor, or, if tired, lay down and slept.  Here, before a crowd
+of men, women, and children, all, from the old men of seventy to
+children of three or four, smoking big green cheroots, Mr. Judson
+preached Sunday after Sunday, and on April 30, 1819, made his first
+convert.  Two months later, on June 27, the convert was baptized.
+
+The Judsons, refreshed by the knowledge that their six years' toil in a
+sweltering, unhealthy country had not been wasted, continued their work
+joyfully, and soon had further cause for thankfulness.  Several natives
+were baptized, and the Judsons had every reason for believing that
+their little band of Christians would increase rapidly.
+
+Then their work received an unexpected check.  The news reached Rangoon
+that the King of Burma was highly displeased at the conversion of his
+subjects, and intended to punish both missionaries and converts.  No
+sooner was this known than the Judsons were deserted by all but their
+converts; the people who had flocked to hear Mr. Judson preach in the
+_zayat_ no longer went there, and the women ceased to attend Mrs.
+Judson's gatherings.
+
+Mr. Judson suspected that the threats emanated from the Governor of
+Rangoon, and not from the king, and, therefore, he started off,
+accompanied by a young missionary who had recently joined him, to the
+capital, to ask the king to prohibit any interference with them or
+their converts.  His majesty not only received them graciously, but
+promised, if Mr. Judson would come with his wife and settle in the
+capital, to give them his protection and a piece of ground on which to
+build a church.
+
+Mrs. Judson's ill-health prevented their accepting that invitation at
+once.  Besides attending to her domestic duties and her native classes
+she had learnt the Siamese language, and with the aid of a native had
+translated into Siamese her husband's Burmese tracts.  The Burmese
+territory in the Malay peninsula had formerly belonged to Siam, and
+after its annexation to Burma many of the Siamese came to live at
+Rangoon.  Several thousands resided there at the beginning of the
+nineteenth century, and it was that they might hear the Gospel that
+Mrs. Judson learnt their language.  Suffering from over-work and the
+unhealthiness of the city--in those days Rangoon was a pestilential
+place--Mrs. Judson sailed for Calcutta, and proceeded to Serampore.
+She was back again in January, 1821, after six months' absence, but
+during the long rainy season she had such a severe attack of fever that
+it was evident that to save her life she would have to return to
+America for a complete rest.
+
+After two years in America she returned to Rangoon in good health; and
+Mr. Judson now decided to avail themselves of the King of Burma's
+invitation to settle at Ava.  Leaving the Rangoon mission in charge of
+his assistant missionaries, he started with Mrs. Judson on the long
+journey up the Irrawaddy to the capital.  But before they had proceeded
+far war broke out between England and Burma.  The Burmese were
+possessed of the belief that they were the greatest military power in
+the world, and, confident that they had nothing to fear from the
+English, encroached upon the possessions of the East India Company.
+Other acts of aggression followed, and the Company decided upon
+reprisals.  Several battles were fought on the frontier, and the
+Burmese under Bandoola won two or three victories.  Mr. and Mrs. Judson
+on their journey up the Irrawaddy met Bandoola proceeding in great
+state to take command of his army.  They were questioned by the Burmese
+general's men, but on explaining that they were not British subjects
+but Americans, and that they were proceeding to Ava by command of the
+king, they were allowed to continue their journey.
+
+On arriving at Ava the king and queen treated Mr. Judson very coldly,
+and did not enquire after Mrs. Judson, whom they had previously desired
+to see.  This was a discouraging beginning for their new work, but the
+Judsons settled down to it, praying that the war might soon be ended.
+But the end was far off.  On May 23, 1824, the news reached Ava that an
+English force had captured Rangoon.  It had apparently not occurred to
+the Burmese that the English might attack them elsewhere than on the
+frontier, and the news of their success filled them with amazement and
+indignation.  An army was despatched at once with orders to drive out
+the invaders.
+
+The king now became suspicious of Mr. Judson.  He knew that the
+missionary had declared that he was not a British subject, but America
+was a land of which he knew nothing.  The only white nations of which
+he had any knowledge were England and France, and he was under the
+impression that after the downfall of Napoleon the French had become
+British subjects.  His courtiers were equally suspicious of Mr. Judson,
+and one managed to discover that he had recently received some money
+from Bengal.  This money was a remittance from America which had been
+forwarded through a Bengal merchant, but the king and his advisers at
+once came to the conclusion that Mr. Judson was a spy in the employ of
+the English.
+
+An order for his arrest was issued immediately, and an officer,
+accompanied by a 'spotted face,' or public executioner, and a dozen men
+proceeded to the Judsons' house.  The 'spotted face' rushing in flung
+Mr. Judson to the ground and began to bind him.
+
+In terrible distress Mrs. Judson besought the officer to set her
+husband free, but all the notice he took of her was to have her
+secured.  When the ropes had been tightly bound around Mr. Judson the
+'spotted face' dragged him out of the house.  'Spotted faces' were
+almost invariably criminals who had been sentenced to the most degraded
+of duties--executing their fellow men.  So that they should not escape
+from the work to which they were condemned, small rings were tattoed on
+their cheeks, forehead and chin.  Loathed by all classes, the 'spotted
+faces' treated with great barbarity all who came professionally into
+their power.  The man who had bound Mr. Judson made the missionary's
+journey to the prison as uncomfortable as possible.  Every twenty or
+thirty yards he threw him to the ground, and dragged him along for a
+short distance with his face downwards.  On arriving at the prison
+allotted to men sentenced to death, Mr. Judson was fettered with iron
+chains and tied to a long pole, so that he could not move.
+
+Mrs. Judson was left at her home, with a number of soldiers outside to
+prevent her escaping.  But these men were not satisfied with keeping
+her prisoner; they added to her misery by taunting her, and threatening
+her with a horrible death.  For two days she endured this agony, but on
+the third she obtained permission to visit her husband.  Heavily
+fettered, Mr. Judson crawled to the prison door, but after they had
+spoken a few words the jailors roughly drove her away.  She had,
+however, seen enough of the prison to make it clear to her that her
+husband would die if he were not speedily removed from it.  By paying
+the jailors a sum of money she managed to get him removed to an open
+shed in the prison enclosure.  He was still fettered, but the shed was
+far healthier than the prison.
+
+Having attained this slight relief for her husband, Mrs. Judson now did
+all in her power to obtain his release.  She called in turn on the
+various members of the royal family and the high officials, assuring
+them that her husband had done nothing to deserve imprisonment, and
+asking for his release.  Many of the people were sympathetic, but none
+dared ask the king to set the missionary free, for his majesty was
+infuriated by the news which reached him, now and again, of the success
+of the invaders.
+
+At last, in the autumn, Bandoola arrived at Ava.  He had been summoned
+from the frontier to proceed towards Rangoon to drive out the British,
+and on arriving at Ava he was received with wild enthusiasm.  Even the
+king treated him with respect, and allowed him to have a free hand.
+Mrs. Judson, seeing Bandoola's power, determined to appeal to him for
+her husband's release.  She was given an audience, and after hearing
+her petition, Bandoola promised that he would consider the matter, and
+dismissed her with the command to come again to hear his decision.  The
+gracious manner in which she had been received filled Mrs. Judson with
+hope, but on calling for Bandoola's reply two days later she was
+received by his wife, who said that her husband was very busy preparing
+to start for Rangoon; as soon as he had driven out the English he would
+return and release all the prisoners.  It was a terrible
+disappointment, but Mrs. Judson did not break down, although her health
+was far from good.  She continued doing as she had done for many
+months, trudging two miles to the prison with her husband's food and
+walking back in the dark.  Every morning she feared to find that her
+husband had been murdered, for the news of the British successes
+continued to reach Ava, and the people were in a state of excitement,
+and continually vowing vengeance on the white _kalas_.  However, her
+worst fears were not realised.  Her husband remained in chains, but, as
+he was not treated very harshly, she began to hope that the Burmese
+would release him when the war was ended.
+
+But the end of the war was a long way off, and in the middle of
+February it became known that the English had quitted Rangoon and were
+marching to Ava.  Mr. Judson was immediately taken from his shed and
+flung into the common prison--one room occupied by over a hundred
+prisoners--loaded with five pairs of fetters.  It was the hot season,
+and Mr. and Mrs. Judson knew that he could not live long in that place.
+Indeed, he was quickly attacked with fever, and Mrs. Judson, growing
+desperate, so persistently implored the governor to allow her to remove
+him that at last he consented.  Mr. Judson was removed speedily to a
+small bamboo hut in the courtyard, where, made comfortable and nursed
+by his wife, he recovered.
+
+In the meanwhile Bandoola had been killed in action, and his successor
+appointed.  The latter was a man of fiendish tastes, and he decided
+before proceeding down the Irrawaddy to take up his command, to remove
+the prisoners from Ava, and have them tortured in his presence.  So Mr.
+Judson and two or three white traders were taken away to Amarapoora.
+Mrs. Judson was absent when her husband was removed, and when she
+returned and found him gone she feared that what she had been long
+dreading had happened--that her husband had been killed.  The governor
+and the jailors protested, untruthfully, that they did not know what
+had become of him; but at last Mrs. Judson discovered where he had been
+taken, and started off with her few months' old baby and her native
+nurse-girl to find him.
+
+Travelling first by river and then by bullock-cart, she arrived to find
+her husband in a pitiable state of health, caused by the ill-treatment
+he had received from his warders on the march from Ava.  He was in a
+high fever, his feet were terribly swollen, and his body covered with
+bruises.  Mrs. Judson obtained permission to nurse him, but on the same
+day her child and nurse-girl developed small-pox.  She nursed all three
+patients, and to her great joy they all recovered.  But the strain on
+her fever-weakened strength had been great, and she felt that her life
+was quickly drawing to a close.  But she bore up bravely, and journeyed
+to Ava to fetch her medicine chest.
+
+Neither she nor her husband knew of the intention of the Burmese
+general.  It was never carried out, for he was suspected of high
+treason, and promptly executed.
+
+Time passed, and the King of Burma becoming alarmed at the advance of
+the English towards his capital, sent his representatives to treat with
+them.  Mr. Judson accompanied them to act as interpreter.  He was not
+in fetters, but he was still a prisoner.  On his return he found that
+his wife had been again ill with fever, and had been delirious for many
+days.  But the prospect of peace being soon declared cheered the
+much-tried missionaries, and gave them fresh strength.
+
+The terms offered by the English general had been refused by the King
+of Burma; but when he found that the enemy would soon be at his capital
+he quickly agreed to them, and sent the first instalment of the
+indemnity down river to the victors.  Mr. Judson was sent with the
+Burmese officers to act as interpreter, and when the money had been
+handed over to the English he was set free, after having undergone
+twenty-one months' imprisonment, during seventeen of which he was in
+fetters.  That he had managed to live through that long imprisonment
+was due to his wife's bravery and devoted attention.  She had suffered
+more than he, and her constitution, ruined by fever, privation, and
+anxiety, was unable to withstand the illness which attacked her soon
+after she had settled down again to missionary work.
+
+She died on October 24, 1826, aged 37, and the husband whom she loved
+so dearly was not at her bedside.  He was acting as interpreter to the
+Governor-General of India's embassy to the court of Ava, and did not
+hear of her illness until she was dead.  The baby girl who had been
+born in the midst of sad surroundings only lived for a few months after
+her mother's death.
+
+
+
+[1] Foreigners
+
+
+
+
+SARAH JUDSON, PIONEER WOMAN IN BURMA
+
+The boy or the girl who does not at an early age announce what he or
+she intends to be when 'grown up,' must be a somewhat extraordinary
+child.  The peer's son horrifies his nurse by declaring that he intends
+to be an engine-driver when he is 'grown up,' and the postman's wife
+hears with not a little amusement that her boy has decided to be Lord
+Mayor of London.
+
+These early aspirations are rarely achieved, but there are some notable
+instances of children remaining true to their ambition and becoming, in
+time, what they had declared they would be.
+
+Sarah Hall, when quite a little child, announced her intention of
+becoming a missionary, and a missionary she eventually became.  She was
+born at Alstead, New Hampshire, in 1803, her parents being Ralph and
+Abiah Hall.  They were refined and well-educated, but by no means
+wealthy, and Sarah would have left school very young, had not the
+head-mistress, seeing that she was a clever child, retained her as
+pupil teacher.  Quiet, gentle, and caring little for the amusements of
+girls of her own age, her chief pleasure was in composing verse, much
+of which is still in existence.  The following lines are from her
+'Versification of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan,' which was
+written when she was thirteen years of age:--
+
+  The beauty of Israel for ever is fled,
+  And low lie the noble and strong:
+  Ye daughters of music, encircle the dead
+  And chant the funereal song.
+  Oh, never let Gath know their sorrowful doom,
+  Nor Askelon hear of their fate;
+  Their daughters would scoff while we lay in the tomb,
+  The relics of Israel's great.
+
+At an early age, as already stated, she expressed a wish to be a
+missionary to the heathen, and the wish grew stronger with increasing
+years.  But suddenly it became evident to her that there was plenty of
+work waiting for her close at hand.  'Sinners perishing all around me,'
+she wrote in her journal, 'and I almost panting to tell the far heathen
+of Christ!  Surely this is wrong.  I will no longer indulge the vain,
+foolish wish, but endeavour to be useful in the position where
+Providence has placed me.  I can pray for deluded idolaters and for
+those who labour among them, and this is a privilege indeed.'  She
+began at once to take an active part in local mission work; but while
+thus employed her interest in foreign missions did not diminish, and
+the death of the two young missionaries, Wheelock and Colman, who went
+to Burma to assist Mr. Judson, made a deep impression on her.
+Wheelock, while delirious from fever, jumped into the sea and was
+drowned, and Colman, after a time, died at Arracan from the effects of
+the unhealthy climate.  On hearing of Colman's death she wrote 'Lines
+on the death of Colman,' the first verse of which is:--
+
+  'Tis the voice of deep sorrow from India's shore,
+  The flower of our Churches is withered and dead,
+  The gem that shone brightly will sparkle no more,
+  And the tears of the Christian profusely are shed.
+  Two youths of Columbia, with hearts glowing warm,
+  Embarked on the billows far distant to rove,
+  To bear to the nations all wrapped in thick gloom,
+  The lamp of the Gospel--the message of love.
+  But Wheelock now slumbers beneath the cold wave
+  And Colman lies low in the dark, cheerless grave,
+        Mourn, daughters of India, mourn!
+  The rays of that star, clear and bright,
+  That so sweetly on Arracan shone,
+  Are shrouded in black clouds of night,
+  For Colman is gone!
+
+These lines were read by George Dana Boardman, a young man, twenty-four
+years of age, who had just been appointed to succeed Colman at Arracan.
+He obtained an introduction to Sarah Hall, and in a short time they
+became engaged.  They were married on July 3, 1825, and thirteen days
+later sailed for Calcutta, where they landed on December 2.  The war in
+Burma prevented their proceeding to Rangoon, so they settled down at
+Calcutta, to study the Burmese language with the aid of Mr. Judson's
+books.  At this they were engaged almost continuously until the spring
+of 1827, when they sailed for Amherst, in Tenasserim, a newly built
+town in the recently acquired British territory, to which Mr. Judson
+had removed with his converts soon after the conclusion of the war.
+
+The Boardmans' stay at Amherst was, however, short.  Towards the end of
+May they were transferred to another new city--Moulmein.  A year before
+their arrival the place had been a wide expanse of almost impenetrable
+jungle; now it had 20,000 inhabitants.  Wild beasts and deadly snakes
+abounded in the jungle around the city and, across the river, in the
+ruined city of Martaban, dwelt a horde of fiendish dacoits, who
+occasionally made a night raid on Moulmein, robbing and murdering, and
+then hurrying back to their stronghold.  The Boardmans had been settled
+in their bamboo hut barely a month when they received a visit from the
+dacoits.  One night Mr. Boardman awoke, to find that the little lamp
+which they always kept burning was not alight, and suspecting that
+something was wrong he jumped out of bed and lit it again.  The dacoits
+had entered, and stolen everything they could possibly carry off.
+Looking-glasses, watches, knives, forks, spoons, and keys had all
+disappeared.  Every box, trunk, and chest of drawers had been forced
+open, and nothing of any value remained in any of them.  This was the
+first home of their own that the Boardmans had ever had, and to be
+robbed so soon of practically everything they possessed was indeed
+hard.  They had, however, the satisfaction of knowing that the dacoits
+had not, as usual, accompanied robbery with murder.  But that the
+dacoits would have murdered them had they awoke while they were
+plundering was plain.  Two holes had been cut in the mosquito curtain
+near to where Mr. and Mrs. Boardman and their one-year-old child lay,
+and by these holes dacoits had evidently stood, knife in hand, ready to
+stab the sleepers if they awoke.  It was a great shock to Mrs.
+Boardman, who was in bad health, but soon she was joining her husband
+in thanking God for having protected them.
+
+After the robbery the officer commanding the British troops stationed
+two sepoys outside the mission house, and some idea of the dangers
+which surrounded the Boardmans may be formed from the fact that one day
+the sentry was attacked by a tiger.
+
+But, exposed as the Boardmans were to perils of this kind, they
+continued their work among the rapidly increasing population, and met
+with considerable success.  Many native Christians, converted under Mr.
+Judson at Rangoon, lived at Moulmein, and consequently the Boardmans'
+work was not entirely among the unconverted.  Indeed, before long
+nearly all the native Christians in Burma were residing at Moulmein,
+Amherst having declined in public favour.  When the majority of the
+inhabitants of Amherst migrated to Moulmein the missionaries
+accompanied them, and soon nearly all the missionaries to Burma were
+working in one city.  Neither the missionary board in America nor Mr.
+Judson considered this to be wise, and some of the missionaries were
+removed to other places, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman being sent to Tavoy,
+some 150 miles south of Moulmein.  The dialect of the people of Tavoy
+differed considerably from Burmese, and the Boardmans had practically
+to learn a new language.  As the written characters of both languages
+were the same, the task was not very difficult, and before long the
+missionaries were preaching the Gospel to the Tavoyans.
+
+Soon after they had settled down some Karens invited Mr. Boardman to
+visit them.  Their country was not far away, but the missionary could
+not as yet leave Tavoy.  The Karens, however, told him something that
+excited his curiosity.  A foreigner passing through the land had given
+them a book, and told them to worship it.  They had done so.  A
+high-priest had been appointed, and he had arranged a regular form of
+worship, Mr. Boardman asked the Karens to let him see the book, and
+they promised to bring it to him.  Soon a deputation, headed by the
+high-priest, attired in a fantastic dress of his own designing, arrived
+at Tavoy with the book, which was carefully wrapped up and carried in a
+basket.  On having the book handed to him Mr. Boardman saw that it was
+a Church of England Prayer-book.  He told the Karens that although it
+was a very good book it was not intended to be worshipped, and they
+consented to give it to him in exchange for some portions of Scripture
+in a language they could read.  It was never discovered who gave the
+Prayer-book to the Karens, but it may be taken for granted that they
+misunderstood the donor's meaning.  This book was afterwards sent home
+to the American Baptist Missionary Society.
+
+On July 8, 1829, Mrs. Boardman was plunged into grief by the death of
+her little daughter, aged two years and eight months.  Other troubles
+followed quickly.  One night Mrs. Boardman was awakened by hearing some
+native Christians shouting, 'Teacher, teacher, Tavoy rebels!'  The
+inhabitants of Tavoy had revolted against the British Government, and
+had attempted to seize the powder magazine and armoury.  The Sepoys had
+driven off the rebels, who were, however, far from being disheartened.
+They burst open the prison, set free the prisoners, and began firing on
+the mission house.  Bullets passed through the fragile little
+dwelling-place, and the Boardmans would soon have been killed had not
+some Sepoys fought their way to their assistance, with orders to remove
+them to Government House.  As Mrs. Boardman with her baby boy in her
+arms hurried through the howling mob of rebels she had several narrow
+escapes from being shot, but fortunately the whole of the little party
+from the mission house reached Government House in safety.  The
+Governor of Tavoy was away when the rebellion broke out, and as the
+steamer in which he had departed was the only means of rapid
+communication between Tavoy and Moulmein, the little British force
+settled down to act on the defensive until reinforcements arrived.
+Soon it was found that Government House would have to be evacuated, and
+eventually the British and Americans took shelter in a six-room house
+on the wharf.  In this small house the whole of the white population,
+the soldiers, and the native Christians were sheltered.  The rebels,
+strongly reinforced, attempted to burn them out, but a heavy downfall
+of rain extinguished the flames before much harm had been done.
+
+At last, to the great relief of the defenders, the governor's steamer
+was seen approaching.  The governor was considerably surprised to find
+the natives in revolt.  Immediately after his arrival he sent his wife
+and Mrs. Boardman aboard the steamer, which was to hurry to Moulmein
+for reinforcements.  Mrs. Boardman begged to be allowed to remain and
+share the danger which was threatening both the whites and the native
+converts, but the governor firmly refused to allow her to do so.
+
+As soon as the rebellion was quelled Mrs. Boardman returned to Tavoy
+and resumed her work, but troubles now came upon her quickly.  On
+December 2, 1830, her baby boy died, making the second child she had
+lost within twelve months.  Her husband, too, was in very weak health,
+although still working hard.  On March 7, 1831, he reported that he had
+baptized fifty-seven Karens within two months, and that other baptisms
+would soon follow.  But the latter he did not live to see, for he died
+of consumption three weeks after writing his report.
+
+The Europeans at Tavoy considered it natural and proper that, now Mrs.
+Boardman was a widow, she should, return to America, and they were
+somewhat surprised when she announced her intention of remaining at
+Tavoy.  'My beloved husband,' she wrote, 'wore out his life in this
+glorious cause; and that remembrance makes me more than even attached
+to the work and the people for whose salvation he laboured till death.'
+As far as possible she took up the duties of her late husband, and
+every day from sunrise until ten o'clock at night she was hard at work.
+Her duties included periodical visits to the Karen villages.  This was
+a most unpleasant work for a refined woman, and from the fact that she
+scarcely ever alluded to these visits we may conclude that she found
+them extremely trying.  But, as there was no man to undertake the work
+which her late husband had carried on with conspicuous success, she
+knew unless she did it herself a promising field of missionary
+enterprise would be uncared for.
+
+Preaching, teaching and visiting was not, however, the only work in
+which the young widow engaged.  She translated into Burmese the
+_Pilgrim's Progress_.
+
+Adoniram Judson and Mrs. Boardman had known each other from the day the
+latter arrived in Burma, and the former, as the head of the
+missionaries in that country, was well aware of Mrs. Boardman's
+devotion to duty.  On January 31, 1834, he completed his translation of
+the Scriptures, and on April 10 he and Mrs. Boardman were married.
+
+Mrs. Sarah Judson's home was now once more in Moulmein, and into the
+work there she threw herself at once heart and soul.  She superintended
+schools, held Bible classes and prayer meetings and started various
+societies for the spiritual and physical welfare of the women.  Finding
+that there was a large number of Peguans in Moulmein, she learnt their
+language, and translated into it several of her husband's tracts.
+
+Until 1841 her life was peacefully happy, but in that year a period of
+trouble began.  Her four children were attacked with whooping-cough,
+which was followed by dysentery, the complaint which in Burma has sent
+many thousands of Europeans to early graves.  No sooner had the
+children recovered from this distressing illness than Mrs. Sarah Judson
+fell ill with it, and for a time it was feared that she was dying.  As
+soon as she was able to travel Mr. Judson took her to India, in the
+hope that a complete rest at Serampore would give her back her
+strength.  She returned in fairly good health, but in December, 1844,
+she grew so weak that Mr. Judson decided to have his first furlough,
+and take her home to America.  On the voyage she grew worse, and died
+peacefully while the ship was at anchor at St. Helena.  She was buried
+on shore, and Adoniram Judson, a widower a second time, proceeded on
+his journey to America.
+
+
+
+
+OLIVIA OGREN AND AN ESCAPE FROM BOXERS
+
+The Chinese dislike to foreigners settling in their country is so old
+that one cannot tell when it began.  But in 1900 the Boxer rising
+proved that the anti-foreign feeling is strong as ever, and perhaps
+more unreasonable, and the whole civilized world was horror-stricken by
+the news of the massacre of men, women and children, who had been
+slaughtered, not only because they were Christians, but because they
+were foreigners.
+
+The list of missionaries who were murdered by the Boxers in 1900 is
+long and saddening; but it is some consolation to know that to many of
+the martyrs death came swiftly, and was not preceded by bodily torture.
+In fact, some of the missionaries who escaped death must have been
+sorely tempted to envy their martyred colleagues, so terrible were the
+trials they underwent before reaching a place of safety.
+
+Mrs. Ogren was one of the representatives of the China Inland Mission,
+who escaped death only to meet perils and privations such as few women
+have ever survived.  She and her husband had worked in China for seven
+years, and had been stationed for about twelve months in the city of
+Yung-ning when the Boxer troubles began.  Until then the natives had
+been well disposed towards them, but two emissaries of the Boxers,
+describing themselves as merchants, spread evil reports concerning
+them.  They declared that the missionaries had poisoned the wells, and
+when the people went to examine them they found that the water had
+turned red.  The men who accused the missionaries had, before bringing
+this charge against them, secretly coloured the water.  Other false
+accusations, artfully supported by what appeared to be conclusive
+evidence, were made against them, and naturally aroused the anger of
+the people, whose demeanour became unmistakably threatening.
+
+On July 5 the sad news of the murder of two lady missionaries at
+Hsiao-i reached Mrs. Ogren and her husband, and a mandarin, who had
+secretly remained friendly towards them, urged them to escape from the
+city as soon as possible, and for their travelling expenses the
+secretary of the yamên brought them, in the middle of the night, Tls.
+10 (£15).  Mr. Ogren gave a receipt for the money, and prepared for
+their flight, but it was not until July 13 that they were able to start.
+
+Early in the morning, before day-break, a mule-litter was brought to
+the back door of the mission garden.  Quickly and silently Mr. and Mrs.
+Ogren, with their little nine months' old boy, mounted, and started on
+their perilous journey to Han-kow.
+
+They arrived uninjured at the Yellow River, where, however, they found
+a famine-stricken crowd, armed with clubs, eager to kill them.  The
+starving natives had been told, and believed, that the scarcity of food
+was due to the foreigners' presence in China, and their hostile
+attitude can scarcely be wondered at.  However, the guard which had
+been sent to protect the missionaries succeeded in keeping off the
+people, who had to content themselves with yelling and spitting at the
+fugitives.  Hiring a boat, for which they had to pay Tls. 50, the
+Ogrens and their guard started down river for T'ung-kuan.  The current
+of this river is exceedingly swift, and the missionaries expected every
+moment that their boat would be wrecked.  No mishap occurred, however,
+and after travelling seventeen miles the party made a halt.  It was
+necessary to do so, as at this place they were to be handed over to a
+new guard.  Here, too, they found it would be impossible to proceed on
+their journey without more money, and a messenger was despatched to the
+mandarin at Yung-ning, asking for a further loan.  Until the result of
+this appeal was known there was nothing for the Ogrens to do but wait
+where they were.  It was an anxious time, but on the fourth day they
+were delighted to see the secretary of the yamên approaching.  He had
+brought with him the money they required.
+
+'Praising God for all His goodness,' Mrs. Ogren writes in her account
+of their trials,[1] 'we started once more, and though beset by many
+difficulties, the goodness of God, and the cordial letter of
+recommendation granted us by our friendly mandarin, enabled us to
+safely reach a place called Lung-wan-chan, 170 miles from our
+starting-place, and half way to our destination, T'ung-kuan.'
+
+At Lung-wan-chan they heard of the rapid spread of the Boxer movement,
+and of the massacre, on July 16, of a party of men and women
+missionaries.  They realised now that the prospect of their escaping
+the fury of the Boxers was small; but there came a ray of hope, when a
+Chinaman, eighty years of age and a friend of the Yung-ning mandarin,
+offered to hide them in his house.  It was an offer which was
+gratefully accepted; but as they were about to start for their
+hiding-place, which was some twenty-five miles from the river, a party
+of soldiers arrived.  Their orders were, they said, to drive the
+foreigners out of the province; but the aged Chinaman gave them a
+feast, and, having got them into a good humour, extracted a promise
+from them that they would not harm the missionaries.  But although they
+kept their promise to the extent of not doing them any bodily injury,
+they took from them all the money they possessed.
+
+When the soldiers had departed, the Ogrens started on their twenty-five
+miles' journey to the friendly old Chinaman's house, thankful at having
+escaped one danger, and hopeful that they would reach their destination
+in safety.  But their hope was not realised.  Before they had gone far,
+their way lay along a track where it was necessary to proceed in single
+file.  Mrs. Ogren, riding a mule, led the way; a second mule carrying
+their personal belongings followed, and Mr. Ogren with their baby-boy
+in his arms came last.  On one side of them was the rushing river; on
+the other, steep, rocky mountains.
+
+Suddenly a number of armed men sprang out from behind the rocks and
+barred their way.  Brandishing their weapons ominously, they demanded
+Tls. 300.  Mrs. Ogren, dismounting from her mule, advanced to a man who
+appeared to be the leader, and told him that they had no money.  She
+begged him to have pity on them, and to spare her at least her baby's
+things.  Her appeal was not entirely wasted, for while they were
+helping themselves to their things the leader handed her, on the point
+of his sword, _one_ of the baby's shirts.
+
+Having taken everything that they fancied, the robbers now looked
+threateningly at the prisoners.  Their leader began whetting his sword,
+shouting as he did so, 'Kill, kill!'  Again Mrs. Ogren pleaded for
+mercy, and finally they relented, and departed without injuring them.
+
+The fugitives now came to the conclusion that it would be certain death
+if they remained in the province, and as soon as possible they crossed
+the river in the ferry.  It was a dark, wet night when they reached the
+other side, and it was only after much entreaty and promises of reward
+that the ferrymen allowed them to take shelter in the dirty smoky caves
+where they lived.  Mr. Ogren at once despatched a message to their old
+Chinese friend asking for help, and four days later the man returned
+with some money, nearly the whole of which the ferrymen claimed, and
+obtained by means of threats.  With little money in their pockets, the
+Ogrens started off on foot towards the promised place of refuge.  It
+was a trying journey, for the heat was intense, and aroused a thirst
+which could not be quenched.  Once Mrs. Ogren fell exhausted to the
+ground; but after a rest they continued their tramp, and on the second
+day reached their destination, there to experience a bitter
+disappointment.  The people whom they expected would be friendly proved
+hostile.  They refused to give them food, and only after much entreaty
+did they permit them to take shelter in a cave near by.  This, however,
+proved to be a very insecure hiding-place, and twice they were robbed
+by gangs of men.
+
+Leaving this place, the Ogrens tramped further into the hills, and
+found another cave, where they could have remained in safety until the
+rising was quelled, had they been able to obtain food.  Mrs. Ogren and
+her husband would have endured the agony of long-continued hunger, but
+they could not see their little baby starve.  For some time he was fed
+on cold water and raw rice, but when their small stock of the latter
+ran out, they tramped back to make another appeal to the people who had
+so recently refused to help them.  Their reception was even worse than
+on the previous occasion.  One of the men had heard of the Boxers'
+offer of Tls. 100 for the head of every foreigner brought to them, and
+was anxious to earn the money.  Seizing his sword, he rushed at the
+fugitives and would have killed them, had not some of his relatives,
+perhaps moved by pity, intervened.  They held him fast while the Ogrens
+hurried away as quickly as their weakness would permit.
+
+Over the mountains they wended their way, sometimes having to crawl up
+the steep hillsides.  It was their intention to make their way back to
+Yung-ning, and seek protection from the mandarin who had always been
+friendly towards them.  It must not be forgotten that during the
+anti-foreign outbreak there were hundreds of Chinamen, besides the
+Christian converts, who, although well aware that a price was placed on
+the head of every foreigner, scorned to betray them, and did all in
+their power to facilitate their escape to a place of safety.  On their
+journey over the mountains, Mrs. Ogren and her husband met with many of
+these people, who gave them food and sheltered them at night.
+
+Having forded a wide, swiftly-flowing river, the Ogrens came to a
+village where the natives treated them so kindly that they remained
+there for two days.  But on departing from this place their brief
+period of comparative happiness came to an end, for, towards night, as
+they drew near to a village, hoping to experience a repetition of the
+hospitality they had recently received, they found that they were
+likely to have a hostile reception.
+
+It was too late to turn back or to attempt to avoid the place, for they
+had already been discovered, so they trudged on through the village,
+the people laughing and jeering at them.  But just as they were
+quitting the village, hopeful that they would be permitted to continue
+their journey unmolested, they were seized and cast into prison.  The
+following morning two men were told off to take them out of the
+province; but it soon became evident to the prisoners that their escort
+intended to hand them over to the Boxers.  They were a particularly
+heartless pair, and one of them took from Mrs. Ogren her baby's pillow,
+which she had managed to retain through all their wanderings, and
+emptying out the feathers burned them.
+
+The following day they arrived at the Yellow River, and as they crossed
+in the ferry the prisoners saw that the village to which they were
+being taken was decorated with red lanterns.  This was a sign that the
+place was held by the Red Lantern Society, one of the divisions of the
+Boxer army.  On landing, the missionaries were at once surrounded by a
+crowd of jeering natives, and one fellow, with brutal glee, told Mrs.
+Ogren of the massacre of the lady missionaries at Ta-ning.
+
+After Mr. Ogren had been closely questioned, he was told they would be
+taken back to Yung-ning, but when they left the village they found that
+they were being led in quite a different direction.  At night they were
+placed in a cave, and on the following morning were marched off to the
+Boxer general's headquarters, a temple.  Mr. Ogren was at once taken
+before the general, Mrs. Ogren sitting in the courtyard with her baby
+on her knee.  She was suffering excruciating pain from a swollen eye,
+caused by the heat and glare, but her mental agony was no doubt
+greater, for in a few minutes her husband's fate would be decided.  She
+heard him answering the general's questions, heard him pleading for
+their lives.  Soon his voice was drowned in the sound of swords being
+sharpened, and a few minutes later she heard moans.  Her husband was
+being tortured.
+
+'My feelings were indescribable,' Mrs. Ogren writes.  'I could only
+pray God to cut short my husband's sufferings, and fill his heart with
+peace, and give me courage to meet my lot without fear.'  Soon the
+moaning ceased, and she concluded that her husband was dead.
+
+That night Mrs. Ogren was imprisoned in a tomb, and her baby, although
+he had nothing but water for his supper, slept soundly on the cold
+ground wrapped up in her gown.  On the following morning she was given
+some rice and porridge, but before she had finished her meal the guard
+set her free.  At once she decided to endeavour to reach Ta-ning, where
+other missionaries were imprisoned, preferring imprisonment among
+friends to the wandering life she had led for so long.  Hearing that
+there were some Christians in a village on the other side of the river,
+she forded the stream--narrowly escaping drowning, but only to find
+that she had been misinformed.  The villagers jeered at her when she
+told her story, and asked for food for herself and baby.  Departing
+from these inhospitable people, Mrs. Ogren lay down with her baby in
+the open.  Both were hungry and shivering, and probably their trials
+would have ended that night in death, had not two native Christians
+found them, and led the way to a cave.  Taking Mrs. Ogren to this place
+of shelter was, however, all that these men could do for her.
+
+The following day, while trudging along towards Ta-ning Mrs. Ogren was
+again captured by Boxers, and would have been promptly killed, had not
+the headman of the village protected her, and, in spite of the anger of
+the mob, appointed an escort to accompany her to Ta-ning.  It was a
+consolation to Mrs. Ogren to feel that she would soon be in the company
+of fellow missionaries; but to her sorrow she heard, on being placed in
+the Ta-ning prison, that they had been set free two days previously,
+and had started for the coast.
+
+The prison in which Mrs. Ogren was now confined was a filthy place,
+swarming with vermin, but the warders were kind to her, and gave her
+food for herself and baby.  Even the mandarin was moved when he heard
+of the sufferings she had undergone, but he did not release her.  Sleep
+was impossible that night, but, at daybreak, as Mrs. Ogren lay dozing
+with her child beside her, she fancied she heard her name called.
+Jumping up she ran into the courtyard, and looked eagerly around.
+
+'Olivia!'  It was her husband's voice, and there at the prison gate
+stood he whom she had thought dead.  'Praise God! oh, praise God!' she
+cried, her heart full of thankfulness; but he was too overcome with
+emotion to speak.  Truly Mr. Ogren was in a terrible plight.  His
+clothes hung in rags, and his head was bound with a piece of dirty,
+blood-stained linen.  One of his ears was crushed, and there were
+ghastly wounds in his neck and shoulders.  Even now he was not out of
+danger for as he stood at the gate Mrs. Ogren saw to her dismay a mob
+of infuriated Boxers rushing towards him, and it seemed as if he would
+be killed before her eyes.  But the yamên servants protected him, and,
+later in the day, he was brought to his wife and child.  The people had
+evidently taken pity on the poor missionaries, for they supplied Mrs.
+Ogren with some water to wash her husband's wounds and a powder that
+would heal them.  Moreover they supplied them with rice and mutton, and
+the secretary of the yamên's wife sent them a bowl of meat soup.
+
+When Mr. Ogren's wounds had been dressed, and he had eaten the first
+good meal he had tasted for many days, he related to his wife all that
+had happened to him since they were separated by the Red Lantern Boxers.
+
+Briefly his story was as follows:--On being taken before the Boxer
+general he was bound to a block of wood, with his hands tied behind his
+back, and while in this helpless state the Boxers kicked him and beat
+him with sticks, cursing the name of Jesus, and shouting, 'Now ask your
+Jesus to deliver you.'  After thus torturing him they untied him from
+the block, and led him with his hands bound behind his back to the
+river-side, with the intention of killing him and casting his body into
+the water.  Arriving there, they forced him down on his knees, and at a
+signal set upon him on all sides with swords and spears; but in their
+eagerness to slay him their weapons struck one against another, and
+instead of being killed instantly he received several wounds, which
+although severe did not disable him.
+
+Suddenly he sprang to his feet, and rushing through the crowd jumped
+into the river.  The Boxers, recovering from their surprise, rushed
+into the water after him, but remembering that his hands were tied
+behind his back they broke into jeering laughter, and waited to see him
+drown.  But the brave, persecuted missionary managed to reach the other
+side in safety, and running inland was soon lost in the darkness.  With
+his hands tied behind his back, and barefooted--his shoes were lost in
+the river--he tramped some fifteen miles before resting.  Then he
+severed the cords which bound his hands by rubbing them against a rock
+until they were cut through.  In the hills he found a native Christian,
+who not only supplied him with food, water and a little money, but took
+him to a hiding-place for the night.  On the following morning Mr.
+Ogren started off again, with the intention of making his way back to
+Yung-ning, but before he had gone far he caught sight of Boxers
+scouring the country.  Finding a cave he hid in it throughout the day,
+resuming his journey at night.  After many hardships he met some
+natives, who informed him that his wife was in prison at Ta-ning, and
+at once he set off for that city, and entered it unnoticed by the
+Boxers.  It was only when he had almost reached the yamên that they
+heard of his presence and rushed after him.  How he escaped their fury
+has already been told.
+
+Two days after Mr. Ogren had rejoined his wife the authorities sent
+them with an escort out of the city on two donkeys, the men who
+accompanied them being instructed to take them from city to city until
+they arrived at the coast.  But on the second day the officials of a
+city through which they would have to pass warned them that they would
+not be allowed to enter it, and therefore the much-tried missionaries
+were taken back to Ta-ning, and placed once more in the loathsome
+prison.  Here Mrs. Ogren endured fresh trials.  Her baby, weakened by
+exposure and semi-starvation, became seriously ill, and for a time it
+seemed as if he would not recover.  When, however, the danger was
+passed Mrs. Ogren's second eye became terribly inflamed and caused her
+intense agony, and her husband becoming delirious with fever, had to be
+tied down to his bed.  Nevertheless, she did not lose her faith, and
+the prisoners, aware of all she had endured, and was enduring,
+marvelled to see her praying to God.  When, in the course of a few
+days, her husband began to gain strength they sang hymns, prayed, and
+read the Bible together.
+
+A month later the Ogrens were told that in two days they were to be
+escorted to the coast, and the comforts which were at once provided for
+them made it clear that the authorities had received instructions to
+protect them and treat them well.  New clothes were given them, and
+when they started on their journey, Mr. Ogren, being far too weak to
+ride, was carried with the baby in a sedan chair.  Mrs. Ogren rode a
+horse.  The officer and ten soldiers who comprised their escort treated
+them kindly, and their example was copied by the inhabitants of the
+villages through which they passed.
+
+It was a welcome change, but it came too late.  Nine days after leaving
+Ta-ning Mr. Ogren became very weak, and in spite of every attention
+died on the following morning, October 15, from the effects of the
+cruelty to which the Boxers had subjected him.
+
+Can anyone imagine a more crushing sorrow for a woman than this which
+Mrs. Ogren had to bear?  To lose her husband just when their long
+months of persecution were ended, and they were looking forward to
+happy days of peace, was indeed the hardest blow she had suffered.  Her
+escort, touched to the heart by this sad ending to her troubles, did
+all that they could to comfort her.
+
+It was not until February 16, that Mrs. Ogren and her two children--a
+girl baby, healthy in every way, had been born at P'ing-yang-fu on
+December 6,--arrived at Han-kow, where everyone strove to show kindness
+to the much-tried widow.  Peter Alfred Ogren's name is inscribed on the
+roll of Christian martyrs, and Olivia Ogren is a name that will ever
+stand high in the list of Christian heroines.
+
+
+
+[1] _Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the
+China Inland Mission_.  (Morgan & Scott.)
+
+
+
+
+EDITH NATHAN, MAY NATHAN AND MARY HEAYSMAN,
+
+MARTYRED BY BOXERS
+
+When, in the year 1900, the anti-foreign feeling in China culminated in
+the massacre of defenceless men and women, the three missionaries whose
+names head this chapter were working in the city of Ta-ning.  The
+inhabitants of this little city among the hills had always treated the
+missionaries with kindness, and it was not until Boxer emissaries
+arrived and stirred up the people by spreading untruths concerning the
+reason of the foreigners' presence in China, that a change occurred in
+the behaviour of some of them.
+
+The news of the Boxer rising was soon carried to the three ladies at
+Ta-ning; but it was not until July 12 that, at the earnest entreaty of
+the native pastor, Chang Chi-pen, they left the city to take shelter in
+one of the villages high up in the mountains.  They started at 7.30 in
+the morning, and, travelling through the heat of the day, arrived at
+Muh-ien, where they were welcomed by the inhabitants, both native
+Christians and unconverted, with kindness.  The knowledge that two lady
+missionaries had recently been murdered at Hsiao-i made the inhabitants
+of this hill-village anxious to show kindness to the three ladies who
+had come to seek shelter among them.  They gave them food, which
+although not very palatable to Europeans was the best to be had, and
+provided them with lodging.
+
+The following day was passed peacefully.  Native friends came out from
+Ta-ning, bringing the comforting assurance that there were no signs of
+the Boxers coming in pursuit of the fugitives.  They told the
+missionaries that eighteen warships belonging to various nations had
+arrived, but had gone aground near Fuh-Kien.  The news of the arrival
+of these vessels naturally caused satisfaction to the three
+missionaries, and made them believe that the Boxer rising would soon be
+quelled.
+
+Sunday, July 15, was a very happy day.  Native Christians came in from
+the neighbouring villages, and the old pastor, Chang Chi-pen, had
+stolen out from Ta-ning.  A service was held, and afterwards the
+missionaries were overwhelmed with invitations to take up their
+residence in various villages where they would be, they were assured,
+perfectly safe from the Boxers.  'It was really worth while being in
+such a position, to see how loyal the Christians were to us,' May
+Nathan wrote in her diary.[1]  'We are certainly in a better position
+than most other foreigners, being amongst such simple, loyal,
+God-fearing men.'
+
+The following morning, soon after breakfast and prayers, a boy arrived
+from Ta-ning with the unpleasant news that 500 soldiers, who were in
+sympathy with the Boxers, had entered the city.  The inhabitants at
+once urged the ladies to flee to a more distant village, and, taking up
+their Bibles, the missionaries started off quickly, with a native
+Christian for their guide.  Rain fell heavily, and they arrived at
+their destination, Tong-men, wet to the skin.  Food was given them, and
+in the afternoon they lay down and slept in a shed full of straw.  The
+natives were determined, however, that they should have a better place
+in which to pass the night, and prepared a cave for them, spreading
+clean mats on the brick beds.  But, late in the afternoon, a Christian,
+whom the missionaries had sent to Ta-ning to obtain information
+concerning the movements of the soldiers, returned with the pleasing
+news that there were none in the city, nor had any been there.
+Thankful that the alarm had been a false one, the three missionaries,
+one feeling somewhat unwell, trudged back to the Muh-ien, and refreshed
+themselves with tea.  Throughout the day, or rather from breakfast
+until their return after dark, they had drunk nothing, tea, strange to
+say, being an unknown luxury in the place where they had sought
+temporary shelter.
+
+On the following day soldiers did enter Ta-ning, but as an official
+despatch arrived almost at the same time instructing the yamên to
+protect foreigners, the three ladies decided not to remove from
+Muh-ien.  This proclamation, a copy of which was brought to the
+missionaries, stated that all foreigners who remained quietly at their
+stations would be unmolested, and was a great improvement on the
+previous one, which ordered that foreigners were to be exterminated.
+The arrival of the allied forces had of course made the Chinese deem it
+advisable to withdraw the former proclamation.
+
+Nothing occurred during the next two days to make the missionaries
+think that they were in immediate danger of being massacred.  They
+spent the time in reading, sewing and talking to the sympathetic people
+who called on them.  But on the third day they received the sad
+information that seven of their missionary friends had been murdered on
+July 16.
+
+'Oh, it is sad, sad,' May Nathan wrote in her diary, 'such valuable
+lives; and who will be the next?  Perhaps we shall, for why should we
+be spared when, for my own part, I know that the lives of those who
+have gone were so much more valuable than mine?  I don't want to die,
+and such a death; but if it comes, well, it will be for a little, and
+after, no more sorrow--no pain.  Day by day we are without knowledge of
+what news may come!  Darling mother, don't be anxious whatever news you
+may hear of me.  It will be useless in the eyes of the world to come
+out here for a year, to be just getting on with the language and then
+to be cut off.  Many will say, 'Why did she go?  Wasted life!'
+Darling, _No_.  Trust; God does His very best, and never makes
+mistakes.  There are promises in the Word that the Lord will save His
+servants, and deliver them from the hands of evil men.  Dear, it may be
+the deliverances will come through death, and His hands will receive,
+not the corruptible, but the incorruptible, glorified spirit.'
+
+Early the following morning, just as they were about to begin
+breakfast, a friendly Chinaman arrived, with the warning, that a party
+of Boxers was coming up the mountains and searching everywhere on the
+way for them.  Instant departure was imperative, so, snatching up their
+Bibles and a few biscuits, they hurried off higher up the mountains,
+halting only for a few minutes among some native Christians, to deliver
+three short prayers.  Their Christian guide hurried them onward when
+the last prayer was finished, and soon they were climbing up steep,
+unfrequented sheep-paths.  A ruined temple on the top of a mountain was
+to be their hiding-place, and when they reached it, tired out, they lay
+down on the ground with stones for their pillows.
+
+How long they remained hiding in this mountain-top temple is unknown.
+Nor, as the last entry in May Nathan's letter is dated July 23, do we
+know the sufferings which they underwent during the next three weeks.
+All that is certain is that, after wandering about the mountains, they
+were captured by the Boxers on August 12, and dragged to a temple near
+Lu-kia-yao, where, hungry and thirsty, they were compelled to spend the
+night surrounded by a mob of fiends.  At day-break they were brought
+out and killed.
+
+
+
+[1] _Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the
+China Inland Mission_.  Edited by Marshall Broomhall.  (Morgan and
+Scott.)
+
+
+
+
+MARY RIGGS AND THE SIOUX RISING
+
+Of all the stories that have been written for young people none have
+been more popular than those describing adventures among the Red
+Indians of North America.  Fenimore Cooper's books have delighted many
+generations of readers; but on much of the ground where that author's
+famous characters lived, hunted, fought and died, big towns have sprung
+up, and the Indians, driven to live in reservations and to become,
+practically, pensioners of the Government, have been shorn of nearly
+all their greatness.
+
+When the white man gained the ascendency in North America there came a
+better opportunity for missionary work, and notable among those who
+went to labour among the Indians was Mary Riggs, who, with her husband,
+worked for thirty-two years among the Sioux--the Red Indians of Dakota.
+She was born on November 10, 1813, at Hawley, Massachusetts, her father
+being General Thomas Longley, who had fought in the war of 1812.
+Evidently he was not a wealthy man, for Mary began her education at the
+common town school, where she had for her schoolfellows the children of
+some of the poorest inhabitants.  Later, she attended better schools,
+and at the age of sixteen became a teacher in one at Williamstown,
+Massachusetts.  Her salary was only one dollar a week, but she gave her
+father the whole of her first quarter's earnings, as a slight return
+for the money he had spent on her education.  After a time she obtained
+a better appointment at a school at Bethlehem, and while there she met
+Stephen R. Riggs, a young man who was studying for the Presbyterian
+ministry.  They became engaged, and a few months later Stephen Riggs
+told his future wife that he should like to become a missionary to the
+Red Indians, among whom work had recently been started.  She expressed
+her willingness to accompany him, and, therefore, he at once offered
+himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by
+whom he was accepted.
+
+The young people were married on February 16, 1837, and about a
+fortnight later began their long journey to the Far West.  Travelling
+was in those days, of course, very different from what it is now, and
+the young missionaries had to go by stage _viâ_ New York, Philadelphia,
+and across the mountains to Pittsburg until they came to the Ohio.
+Snow, rain and mud made their journey by stage particularly unpleasant,
+but rest and comfort came on the steamer which bore them down the river.
+
+On June 1, 1837, they arrived at Fort Snelling, near where the
+Minnesota joins the Mississippi.  Here they remained until the
+beginning of September, living in a log-house, and learning the Dakota
+language with the help of a missionary who had been in the field for
+three years.  From Fort Snelling they departed on September 5, 1837,
+for their destination Lac-qui-parle, travelling with two one-ox carts
+and a double wagon.  On September 18 they arrived at the station to
+which they had been appointed, and received a hearty welcome from the
+two missionaries who had settled there some time before at the earnest
+request of a Lac-qui-parle trader.  Lac-qui-parle was a small place, a
+mere collection of buffalo-skin tents, in which lived some 400 Red
+Indians.  Mr. and Mrs. Riggs found a home in a log-house belonging to
+one of the other missionaries.  Only one room could be spared them, and
+although it was but 10 feet wide and 18 feet long they made themselves
+comfortable.  Mr. Riggs wrote as follows in his account of their work
+among the Sioux[1]: 'This room we made our home for five winters.
+There were some hardships about such close quarters, but, all in all,
+Mary and I never enjoyed five winters better than those spent in that
+upper room.  There our first three children were born.  There we worked
+in acquiring the language.  There we received our Dakota visitors.
+There I wrote, and re-wrote, my ever-growing dictionary.  And there,
+with what help I could obtain, I prepared for the printer the greater
+portion of the New Testament in the Dakota language.  It was a
+consecrated room.'
+
+When Mrs. Riggs and her husband took possession of their one-room home
+they had much difficulty in making it comfortable, as they had been
+unable to bring on their furniture and domestic utensils.  One person,
+however, lent them a kettle, another provided them with a pan, and bit
+by bit they collected the most necessary articles.
+
+In the East missionaries have never experienced a difficulty in
+obtaining servants, but in Dakota neither male nor female Sioux would
+enter the Riggs' service.  Consequently Mrs. Riggs had to perform all
+the household duties.  They bought a cow, but neither of them knew how
+to milk her.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Rigg tried to perform the task, but not
+until the cow had experienced considerable discomfort did Mrs. Riggs
+become acquainted with the art.  Washing clothes was a performance
+which filled the Sioux women with wonder, for they were in the habit of
+wearing their garments unwashed until they became too old to be worn
+any longer.  Very soon they adopted the white woman's custom, and,
+becoming fond of standing over the washing-tub, they took to washing
+Mrs. Riggs' clothes as well as their own.  For doing so they were, of
+course, paid.
+
+The missionaries who had preceded the Riggs at Lac-qui-parle had not
+been very successful, if success be judged by the number of converts
+made.  The native Church consisted of seven people, but before the
+Riggs had been there many months nine were added.  Most of these were
+women, and it was they, and not the men, who assisted in the building
+of the first church at Lac-qui-parle.
+
+When Mr. and Mrs. Riggs had worked for some time with success at
+Lac-qui-parle they removed to a new station--Traverse des Sioux.  But
+four years later the news reached them that since their departure from
+Lac-qui-parle there had been a sad falling back into heathenism among
+the converts, and they hurried back to their old station.  Backsliders
+were reclaimed, and the missionary work carried on with increased
+energy.
+
+But the missionaries had much to contend with.  The Indians were hard
+pressed for food, and occasionally shot the mission cattle.  Grog shops
+had been opened in the neighbourhood, and many of the Sioux bought
+drink when they should have purchased provisions.  Excited by the
+fire-water, the Indians were frequently riotous, and, although they
+never assaulted the missionaries, it was clear that they might massacre
+them.  On one occasion Mrs. Riggs had a very unpleasant experience.
+While her husband was away, twenty-six Sioux warriors paraded in front
+of mission house and fired their guns in the air.  Mrs. Riggs was
+naturally somewhat frightened, until she found that they were not bent
+on murder and scalping.  They had been searching for some Chippewas,
+but, having failed to find them, they fired their guns for practice.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Riggs continued their work with but few interruptions
+until 1862, when the Sioux rising occurred.  It began in this way.  The
+Sioux had assembled at Yellow Medicine to receive their annual
+allowance from the Government official.  While distributing the
+allowance the official announced that the Great Father (President
+Lincoln) was anxious to make them all very happy, and would therefore
+give them, very shortly, a bonus.  The Indians, having recently
+suffered greatly from want of provisions, were delighted at the
+prospect of an additional grant, and waited in the vicinity of the
+agency for its arrival.  When it arrived the Sioux found to their
+dismay that it was a paltry gift of $2.50 a man.  Their disgust and
+anger were increased by the knowledge that during the time they had
+been waiting for this insignificant present they could have earned from
+$50 to $100 by hunting.  Unintentionally, a Government servant added
+fuel to the fire, and the Sioux, maddened, began their terrible
+massacre of the scattered settlers.
+
+The news of the rising was carried quickly to the Riggs by friendly
+Indians, who urged them to hurry away as quickly as possible to a place
+of safety.  But the missionaries were not disposed to consider the
+rising serious.  The seizure of their horses and cows, and various
+other unfriendly actions performed by the people among whom they had
+lived for many years, soon, however, convinced them that it would be
+wise to depart.  So gathering together a few belongings the little band
+of missionaries, some carrying children, crept away by night to an
+island in the Minnesota River.  But on the following day the friendly
+Indians sent word to them that they were not safe on the island, and
+urged further flight.
+
+Acting on this advice, the Christians waded the river and started on a
+tramp to the Hawk River, and on the way met other settlers, hurrying
+like themselves, to escape from the infuriated Sioux.  Joining forces
+they proceeded on their journey, the women and children riding in two
+open carts, and soon met a wounded man, whom they tenderly lifted into
+one of the wagons.  He was the sole survivor of a band of settlers
+which had been attacked by the Sioux.
+
+Keeping a sharp look-out for the Indians, the fugitives continued their
+journey across the prairie.  On the second night the rain fell heavily,
+and as the women and children could obtain no shelter in the open carts
+they crept under them.  Wet and shivering, the fugitives found, when
+daylight came, that they had scarcely any food.  Wood was collected, a
+fire built, and one of the animals killed and roasted.
+
+A day later they were espied by an Indian, who fortunately proved to be
+friendly.  He advised the fugitives to hurry to Fort Ridgely, and
+assured them that all the whites, with the exception of themselves, who
+had not taken shelter in the fort had been killed.  Acting on his
+advice, they proceeded in the direction of the fort, but travelled very
+cautiously, for there were signs that Indians were in the neighbourhood.
+
+One of the fugitives crept into the fort, but the news he brought back
+to his comrades in distress was not cheering; the fort was already
+overcrowded with women and children, and there was a very small force
+of soldiers to defend it.  For five days they had been continually
+attacked by the enemy, and unless reinforcements arrived quickly the
+fort would probably be captured.
+
+The Riggs and their fellow fugitives decided, therefore, to hurry on to
+some other place, fully aware of the danger they were running in
+travelling through a neighbourhood which abounded with the
+scalp-seeking Indians.  One of Mary Riggs' daughters wrote of this
+period in their flight: 'Every voice was hushed, except to give
+necessary orders; every eye swept the hills and valleys around; every
+ear was intensely strained for the faintest sound, expecting
+momentarily to hear the unearthly war-whoop, and see dusky forms with
+gleaming tomahawks uplifted.'
+
+[Illustration: EVERY EAR WAS STRAINED ... EXPECTING MOMENTARILY TO HEAR
+THE UNEARTHLY WAR-HOOP.]
+
+Hour after hour the tired and footsore fugitives trudged on without
+being discovered.  Then four of their number, believing the danger was
+passed, bade adieu to the remainder of the party and proceeded in a
+different direction; but before they had gone far they were killed by
+the Indians.  The Riggs and their party heard the fatal shots, but the
+tragedy was hidden from their sight by the bush.  Fortunately, the
+proximity of the larger party of fugitives was not discovered by the
+Sioux; and at last, after a long, weary journey, the Riggs and their
+friends arrived at the town of Henderson, where their appearance
+occasioned considerable surprise, as their names had been included in
+the list of massacred.
+
+Over a thousand settlers were killed during the rising, and there were
+many people who escaped death, but never recovered completely from the
+horrors of that terrible time.  Mary Riggs returned with her husband to
+the work among the Sioux; but her health grew slowly worse, and when,
+in March, 1869, an ordinary cold developed into pneumonia she had not
+the strength to battle against it.  She died on March 22, 1869, in
+Beloit, Wisconsin, worn out with her thirty-two years' work in the
+mission-field.
+
+
+
+[1] _Mary and I; Forty Years with the Sioux_.  By Stephen R. Riggs.
+Philadelphia, 1887.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN WAR-TIME
+
+
+
+MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND
+
+Florence Nightingales's noble work among the sick and wounded in the
+Crimean War is known to everyone; but very few people are aware that
+there was another woman, working apart from Miss Nightingale, who
+performed deeds of bravery and humanity in the same campaign which
+entitle her to a high place in any list of brave and good women.  Sir
+William Russell, the famous war correspondent of the _Times_, wrote, in
+1858, of Mary Seacole: 'I have witnessed her devotion and her courage;
+I have already borne testimony to her services to all who needed them.
+She is the first who has redeemed the name of 'sutler' from the
+suspicion of worthlessness, mercenary business and plunder; and I trust
+that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out
+her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices
+for some other illustrious dead.'  England seems to have forgotten her,
+but it is hoped that this account of her life may help to remove the
+reproach.
+
+Mary Seacole was born at Kingston, Jamaica, her father being a
+Scotchman and her mother a native.  The latter kept a boarding-house
+which was patronised chiefly by naval and military officers stationed
+at Kingston, but she was also widely known in the West Indies as a
+"doctoress."  Officers, their wives and children were her chief
+patients, and she is reputed to have healed many troublesome complaints
+with medicines made from the plants which she herself gathered.  Mary
+inherited her mother's tastes, and when quite a child decided to become
+a "doctoress."  She bandaged her dolls in the way she had seen her
+mother bandage patients, and on growing older she doctored any stray
+dogs and cats who could be prevailed upon to swallow the medicine she
+had made.  After a time she became anxious to try her skill upon human
+beings, but as no one would consent to take her medicine, she drank it
+herself, happily without any serious effects.
+
+When Mary Seacole (as she afterwards became) was about twelve years of
+age her mother began to allow her to assist in waiting upon the invalid
+officers staying at the boarding-house, and whilst thus engaged she was
+able to obtain a knowledge of nursing which was of the greatest value
+in after years.  While still a girl she paid a visit to England, and
+remained there, with some relatives, for some months.  She visited
+England again a few years later, and saw that there was a good opening
+in London for West Indian commodities.  Therefore, on her return, she
+exported guava jelly, pickles and various preserves, and being anxious
+to add to the variety of her wares, she visited the Bahamas, Hayti and
+Cuba, to inspect the productions of those places.
+
+On returning from her travels among the islands she settled down again
+to nurse her mother's invalid boarders, and before long married one of
+them, a Mr. Seacole.  Her married life was, however, short for Mr.
+Seacole died a few months after the wedding.  A little later her mother
+passed away, and Mary Seacole was left without relatives in Jamaica.
+She continued to manage the boarding-house; but her generosity to the
+poor was so unlimited that when she had a bad season she was without
+money to support herself.  However, she struggled on until her
+boarding-house was once more filled with well-paying invalids.  But in
+1843 she had a very serious loss; her house was burnt in a fire which
+destroyed a large portion of Kingston.  The boarding-house was,
+however, rebuilt, and prosperity returned.  Many a white man asked her
+to become his wife, but she refused every offer, and devoted all her
+spare time to the task of adding to her store of medical knowledge.
+Several naval and military surgeons, surprised to find that her
+knowledge of medical matters was, for a woman, great, assisted her with
+her studies.
+
+In 1850 cholera broke out in Jamaica, and raged for a greater portion
+of the year, and a doctor who was living at Mary Seacole's house gave
+her many valuable hints concerning the treatment of cholera cases.
+Before long the knowledge thus obtained proved to be the means of
+saving many lives.
+
+Shortly after the cholera had ceased to rage in Jamaica Mary Seacole
+proceeded on a visit to her brother, who owned a large, prosperous
+store at Cruces in California.  On arriving there, she found the place
+crowded with a mixed mob of gold-diggers and speculators, some
+proceeding to the gold-fields, others returning.  The men returning
+were drinking, gambling and "treating" those who were bound for the
+gold-fields.  It was a degrading sight, and Mary Seacole wished that
+she had not left Jamaica.  There was nowhere for her to sleep, wash or
+change her travel-stained clothes, for every room in her brother's
+house was engaged by the homeward-bound gold-diggers.  Until they
+departed she had to manage to exist without a bed.
+
+These parties of miners arrived at Cruces weekly, and the scenes of
+dissipation were the same on each occasion.
+
+Quarrels which ended in the death of one of the combatants were
+frequent and little noticed, but the very sudden death of a Spaniard
+who resided at Cruces caused great excitement.  He had dined with Mary
+Seacole's brother, and on returning home was taken ill and suddenly
+died.  Suspicion fell upon Mary Seacole's brother, and it was said
+openly that he had poisoned the man.  Mary Seacole, indignant at the
+accusation brought against her brother, went to see the body, and knew
+at once that the man had died from cholera.  No one believed her, but
+the following morning a friend of the dead man was taken ill with the
+same disorder, and the people who had scoffed at her became
+terror-stricken.
+
+There was no doctor at Cruces, and Mary Seacole set herself to battle
+single-handed with the plague.  Fortunately, she never travelled
+without her medicine-chest, and taking from it the remedies which had
+been used in Jamaica with great success she hurried to the sick man's
+bedside, and by her promptitude was able, under God, to save his life.
+Two more men were stricken down and successfully treated, and Mary
+Seacole was beginning to hope that the plague would not spread, when a
+score of cases broke out in one day.  The people were now helpless from
+terror, and Mary Seacole was the only person who did not lose her
+presence of mind.  Day and night she was attending patients, and for
+days she never had more than a hour's rest at a time.  Whenever a
+person was stricken, the demand was for 'the yellow woman from
+Jamaica,' and it was never made in vain.
+
+When the cholera had been raging for some days, Mary Seacole despatched
+a messenger to bring a medical man to the place; but the Spaniard who
+arrived in response to the summons was horror-stricken at the terrible
+scenes, and incapable of rendering any assistance.  Mary Seacole was
+compelled, therefore, to continue her noble work unaided.
+
+One evening she had just settled down to a brief rest when a mule-owner
+came and implored her to come at once to his kraal, as several of his
+men had been attacked with cholera.  Now Mary Seacole had been visiting
+patients throughout the day and the previous night, but without the
+slightest hesitation she went out into the rain and made her way to the
+sick muleteers, whom she found in a veritable plague-spot.  Men and
+mules were all in one room, and the stench was so great that a feeling
+of sickness came over her as she stood at the door.  But with an effort
+she overcame the feeling, and entering flung open the windows, doors
+and shutters.  Then, as the much-needed fresh air poured in, she looked
+around.
+
+Two men she saw at once were dying, but there were others whom she
+thought there was a possibility of saving, and these she attended to at
+once.  For many hours she remained in this strangely crowded room, and
+when she did quit it she only went away for an hour's sleep.  On her
+return to the plague-spot she found fresh patients awaiting her, one, a
+little baby, who in spite of her efforts died.  Everything was against
+Mary Seacole in this pestilential stable, but nevertheless she was the
+means of saving some lives.
+
+At length, when the plague was dying out, the brave woman who had so
+nobly fought the disease was herself stricken with it, but happily for
+the British army she recovered.
+
+Throughout the plague Mary Seacole had treated rich and poor alike.
+The centless man and the down-trodden muleteer received as much
+attention from her as the wealthy diggers returning home with their
+bags of gold dust.  The latter paid her liberally for having tended
+them, but the majority of her patients had nothing but thanks to give
+her.  Possibly she appreciated the latter most, for some of her rich
+patients seemed to think that having rewarded her they had wiped out
+the debt of gratitude.
+
+On June 4 some of her wealthy patients gave a dinner party, and invited
+Mary Seacole to be present.  One speaker proposed her health, and after
+referring to her having saved their lives continued in the following
+strain: 'Well, gentlemen, I expect there are only two things we are
+vexed for.  The first is that she ain't one of us--a citizen of the
+great United States; and the other thing is, gentlemen, that Providence
+made her a yellow woman.  I calculate, gentlemen, that you're all as
+vexed as I am that she's not wholly white, but I do reckon on your
+rejoicing with me that she's so many shades removed from being entirely
+black; and I guess if we could bleach her by any means we would, and
+thus make her as acceptable in any company as she deserves to be.
+Gentlemen, I give you Aunty Seacole.'
+
+Mary Seacole's reply to this ill-mannered speech was as follows:
+'Gentlemen, I return you my best thanks for your kindness in drinking
+my health.  As for what I have done in Cruces, Providence evidently
+made me to be useful, and I can't help it.  But I must say that I don't
+appreciate your friend's kind wishes with respect to my complexion.  If
+it had been as dark as any nigger's, I should have been just as happy
+and as useful, and as much respected by those whose respect I value;
+and as to the offer of bleaching me, I should, even if it were
+practicable, decline it without any thanks.  As to the society which
+the process might gain me admission into, all I can say is, that,
+judging from the specimens I have met here and elsewhere, I don't think
+that I shall lose much by being excluded from it.  So, gentlemen, I
+drink to you, and the general reformation of American manners.'
+
+In 1853 Mary Seacole returned to Jamaica, and before she had been there
+many weeks yellow fever broke out.  It was the worst outbreak that had
+occurred for many years, and soon Mary Seacole's boarding-house was
+full of patients, chiefly officers, their wives and children.  In
+nursing her boarders, and procuring proper food for them, Mary Seacole
+had more work than most women would care to undertake; but when the
+military authorities asked her to organise a start of nurses to attend
+to the men in Up-Park Camp, Kingston, she set to work on this
+additional task, and, carrying it out with her customary thoroughness,
+rendered a great service to the army.
+
+After the yellow fever had subsided Mary Seacole sold her
+boarding-house, and opened a store in New Granada, where she speedily
+obtained popularity because of her medical skill.  On war being
+declared against Russia, she determined to go to the Crimea to nurse
+the sick and wounded, and started for London as quickly as possible,
+arriving there soon after the news of the battle of Alma had been
+received.  She had anticipated no difficulty in getting sent to the
+front, as there were many officers who could testify to her nursing
+abilities; but she found on arriving in London that every regiment to
+whom she was known had been sent to the Crimea.  However, as the news
+of the sufferings of our men at the front had reached London, and the
+necessity of nurses being sent out was recognised, she imagined that
+her services would be promptly accepted.
+
+Soon she found, greatly to her sorrow, that the colour of her skin was
+considered, in official circles, a barrier to her employment.  She
+applied in turn at the War Office, the Quartermaster General's
+Department, the Medical Department, and the Crimea Fund, but at each
+place some polite excuse was made for declining her services.  It was
+indeed a foolish act on the part of the officials.  Nurses were sorely
+needed, and here was Mary Seacole, who had far greater experience of
+nursing British soldiers than any woman living, refused employment.
+She declared in her little book of adventures,[1] published soon after
+the war ended, that at her last rebuff she cried as she walked along
+the street.
+
+But Mary Seacole's determination to proceed to the Crimea was not
+shaken by her inability to prevail upon the authorities to accept her
+services, and after consideration she decided to go to the front at her
+own expense.  She had sufficient money to pay her passage to Balaclava,
+and to support her for some months after her arrival, but not enough to
+enable her also to supply herself with the medical outfit necessary for
+work at the seat of war.  The only way in which she could hope to be in
+a position to help the sick and wounded was by earning money in the
+Crimea, and therefore she decided to start an hotel at Balaclava for
+invalid officers.  By the next mail she sent out to the officers who
+had known her at Jamaica a notice that she would shortly arrive at
+Balaclava, and establish an hotel with comfortable quarters for sick
+and convalescent officers.
+
+While Mary Seacole was making preparations for her departure she met a
+shipper named Day, who, hearing of her plans, offered to enter into
+partnership with her in the proposed hotel.  This offer she accepted,
+as with a partner she would be able to devote more time to the wounded.
+
+At Malta Mary Seacole found herself once more among people who knew and
+appreciated her.  Some medical officers who had been stationed at
+Kingston were among those who welcomed her, and believing that Florence
+Nightingale would be glad of her help, gave her a letter of
+introduction to that noble Englishwoman.  Having made arrangements for
+her work in the Crimea, Mary Seacole had now no desire to become
+attached to any nursing staff, but she accepted the letter of
+introduction, as she was anxious to make the acquaintance of Florence
+Nightingale, who was then at the barracks at Scutari, a suburb of
+Constantinople, which were being used as a hospital for British troops.
+
+When Mary Seacole arrived at Scutari, Florence Nightingale was too busy
+to grant her an interview immediately, so she spent the period of
+waiting in inspecting the wards.  As she passed along, many of the
+invalid soldiers recognised her and called to her.  Some of them she
+had nursed in Jamaica, and the sight of her kindly brown face filled
+them with recollections of happy days in the West Indies.  To every man
+who recognised her she said a few cheering words, and in several cases
+rearranged bandages which had slipped.  While thus engaged, an officer
+entered the ward, and was about to reprimand her, when he saw, much to
+his surprise, that she was as skilful as any doctor or nurse in the
+hospital.  When she had finished her self-imposed task, he thanked her
+for her thoughtful kindness.
+
+At last Mary Seacole saw Florence Nightingale, whom she describes in
+these words: 'A slight figure, in the nurse's dress, with a pale,
+gentle, and withal firm face, resting lightly on the palm of one white
+hand, while the other supports the elbow--a position which gives to her
+countenance a keen, enquiring expression which is very marked.
+Standing thus in repose, and yet keenly observant, was Florence
+Nightingale--that Englishwoman whose name shall never die, but sound
+like music on the lips of British men until the hour of doom.'
+
+Naturally Florence Nightingale was interested in the woman who came to
+her warmly recommended by British medical officers, and made many
+enquiries concerning her intentions.  On the following morning Mary
+Seacole resumed her journey, but these two good women met several times
+before the war was ended.
+
+On arriving at Balaclava Mary Seacole received hearty welcome from the
+troops.  Men who had been stationed in Jamaica told their comrades of
+her bravery and kindness, and everyone hailed her as a great friend.
+Many officers, including a general and that gallant Christian, Captain
+Hedley Vicars, met her as she landed, and expressed their thanks to her
+for coming to the Crimea.
+
+Mary Seacole was soon at work among the wounded, assisting the doctors
+to transfer them from the ambulances to the transports.  While engaged
+in this work, on the day after her arrival, she noticed a wounded man
+who was evidently in great pain, and saw at once that his bandages were
+stiff, and hurting him.  Having rearranged them she gave the poor
+fellow some tea, and as she placed it to his lips his hand touched
+hers.  'Ha!' he exclaimed, too weak even to open his eyes, 'this is
+surely a woman's hand.  God bless you, woman, whoever you are!  God
+bless you!'
+
+A few days later, as she was busy at her usual work of attending to the
+sick and wounded, the Admiral of the Port placed his hand on her
+shoulder, and said earnestly, 'I am glad to see you here among these
+poor fellows.'  A day or two before--when she had made some enquiries
+concerning the landing of her stores--this admiral had declared
+brusquely that they did not want a parcel of women in the place.  When
+at last Mary Seacole's stores were put ashore, she started business in
+a rough little hut, made of tarpaulin, on which was displayed the name
+of the firm--Seacole and Day.  The soldiers, however, considered that
+as Mary Seacole's skin was dark, a better name for the firm was Day and
+Martin, and as such it was generally known.
+
+Towards the end of the summer, Seacole and Day's British Hotel was
+opened at Spring Hill.  It had cost £800 to build, and was an excellent
+place for sick officers to rest.  Adjoining the hotel, and belonging to
+the same proprietors, was a store at which could be purchased creature
+comforts and useful articles.  At first the store was opened every day
+of the week.  Mary Seacole had a strong dislike to opening it on
+Sunday, but the requirements of the soldiers made it almost a
+necessity.  After a time, when the most pressing needs of the men had
+been met, she gave notice that the store would be closed on Sundays,
+and this rule she refused to alter, in spite of being constantly urged
+to do so.
+
+Many officers, instead of going into hospital when ill, became boarders
+at Mary Seacole's, and among these was a naval lieutenant who was a
+cousin of Queen Victoria.  These officers she doctored and nursed with
+her customary skill, and for every vacancy in her hotel there were
+half-a-dozen applicants.
+
+One day it became known in camp, that among the things which Mary
+Seacole had received from a recently arrived ship was a young pig,
+which she intended to fatten and kill.  Immediately she was overwhelmed
+with orders for a leg of pork, and if the pig had possessed a hundred
+legs she could have sold every one of them.  An officer to whom she did
+eventually promise a leg of pork was so anxious that there should be no
+mistake about the matter, that he made the following memorandum of the
+transaction:--'That Mrs. Seacole did this day, in the presence of Major
+A-- and Lieutenant W--, promise Captain H--, a leg of _the_ pig.'
+
+Every portion of the pig was sold long before the animal was fit to be
+killed, and then the purchasers began to fear that it would be stolen.
+Everybody took an interest in tins pig, and it was considered the
+correct thing for every soldier who passed the sty to assure himself
+that the animal was still there.  One day two officers, coming off
+duty, galloped up to the hotel and shouted excitedly, 'Mrs. Seacole!
+Quick, quick, the pig's gone!'  It was not a false alarm; the pig had
+been stolen.  As, however, the nest in the sty was warm, it was evident
+that the pig had only recently been taken, and a party of officers
+started in pursuit of the thieves, shouting laughingly as they rode
+off, 'Stole away!  Hark away!'  The thieves, two Greeks, were quickly
+overtaken, and the precious pig was brought back in triumph to Mary
+Seacole.
+
+It must not be thought that Mary Seacole devoted herself entirely to
+the officers, for her best work was done among the privates on the
+battlefield.  Sir William Russell bore testimony to her courage and
+humanity.  'I have seen her,' he wrote, 'go down under fire, with her
+little store of creature comforts for our wounded men; and a more
+tender or skilful hand about a wound or broken limb could not be found
+among our best surgeons.  I saw her at the assault on the Redan, at the
+Tchernaya, at the fall of Sebastopol, laden, not with plunder, good old
+soul! but with wine, bandages, and food for the wounded or the
+prisoners.'
+
+The Inspector-General of Hospitals praised her work, and the
+Adjutant-General of the British Army wrote on July 1, 1856:--'Mrs.
+Seacole was with the British Army in the Crimea from February, 1855, to
+this time.  This excellent woman has frequently exerted herself in the
+most praiseworthy manner in attending wounded men, even in positions of
+great danger, and in assisting sick soldiers by all means in her power.'
+
+From officers who could afford to pay for her medicine or wine she
+accepted payment, but a man's need, and not his ability to pay, was her
+first thought.  On the battle-field she gave strengthening food to
+wounded privates which she could easily have sold, at a large profit,
+to the officers.
+
+Regardless of the danger she was running--she had many narrow escapes
+from shot and shell--she bandaged the wounded, administered
+restoratives to the unconscious, and prayed with the dying.  Scores of
+dying men gave her messages for their loved ones at home, and these she
+despatched as speedily as possible.  She saw many an old friend laid to
+his last rest, and among these was Hedley Vicars, with whom she had
+been associated in much good work in Jamaica.
+
+Mary Seacole was known to have a very poor opinion of our French ally,
+but a wounded Frenchman received as much attention from her as an
+Englishman.  The enemy, too, had good cause to bless her, for many a
+wounded Russian would have died on the battle-field but for her skilful
+and prompt aid.  One Russian officer, whose wounds she bandaged and
+whom she helped to lift into the ambulance, was greatly distressed at
+being unable to express his thanks in a language which she understood.
+Taking a valuable ring from his finger, he placed it in her hand,
+kissing her hand as he did so, and smiled his thanks.
+
+Mary Seacole continued her noble work until the war ended.  But her
+generosity to the sick and wounded had been a great strain upon her
+finances, as the whole of her share of the profits in the firm of
+Seacole and Day, and much of her capital, had been spent on her
+charitable work.  And, to make matters worse, when the British troops
+had departed from the Crimea, the firm had to dispose of its stock at
+one-tenth of the cost price.  Proceeding to England, Seacole and Day
+started business at Aldershot, but after a few months the partnership
+was dissolved, and Mary Seacole found herself almost penniless.  But as
+soon as her unfortunate position became known, friends hastened to
+assist her.  _Punch_ recorded some of her good deeds in verse, and made
+a humorous appeal on her behalf.
+
+The red-coats did, at _Punch's_ invitation, 'lend a willing hand;' for,
+although all ranks were sorry to hear of Mary Seacole's misfortune,
+they were glad to have an opportunity to prove to her that they had not
+forgotten her noble work in the Crimea.  Subscriptions to the fund that
+was started for her benefit poured in, and a sufficient sum was
+received to enable her to spend the regaining years of her life in
+comfort.
+
+
+
+[1] _The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole_.  Edited by W. J. S.
+
+
+
+
+LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE
+
+Many years ago, when His Majesty King Edward VII. was in Canada, he
+paid a visit to Mrs. Laura Secord, a very old and revered Canadian
+lady.  The news of the visit of the Prince of Wales (for such, of
+course, His Majesty then was), and the present which he afterwards
+bestowed upon her, was heard with pleasure throughout Canada, for Laura
+Secord is a heroine of whom the Canadians are justly very proud.
+
+The brave deed for which she is famed is here told:
+
+On June 18, 1812, the United States of America declared war against
+Great Britain.  The conquest of Canada was the object President Madison
+had in view, and he was confident that he would achieve it with little
+difficulty.  Truly he had good reasons for his confidence.  In the
+whole of Canada there were less than 4500 regular troops, and it was
+known that Napoleon's activity in Europe would prevent the British
+Government from sending out reinforcements.
+
+Naturally, the news that America had declared war filled the Canadians
+with dismay; but this feeling was quickly succeeded by a determination
+to repel the invaders, or die in the attempt.  The call to arms was
+sounded throughout the country, and an army composed of farmers,
+fur-traders, clerks, artisans, French Canadians, Red Indians, and negro
+slaves was soon formed.
+
+Among the white men who volunteered was James Secord, who had married
+Laura Ingersoll, the daughter of a sturdy loyalist who quitted the
+United States, after the War of Independence, to live under the British
+flag in Canada.  Mr. and Mrs. Secord were living at Queenston, on the
+banks of the Niagara River, when the war broke out, and it was at
+Queenston that a fierce battle was fought, four months later.
+
+About two o'clock in the morning of October 13 the British discovered
+that the Americans had crossed the river under cover of darkness, and
+that some were already scaling the cliffs at various points.  A fierce
+fire was opened upon the invaders on the beach, who concealed
+themselves behind the rocks and fired whenever they saw an opportunity.
+The American losses were great, and it appeared as if they would either
+have to surrender or be annihilated, when suddenly a volley was poured
+into the rear of the British.
+
+Unseen by the defenders, a body of Americans had scaled the cliffs, and
+taken up a strong position above the British, who were now between two
+fires.  The British general--Brock--was mortally wounded, and for a few
+moments his men stood aghast.  Then the cry, 'Avenge Brock!' was
+raised, and with a cheer the British force advanced to drive out the
+invaders.
+
+A terrible hand-to-hand fight ensued, and slowly but surely the
+Americans were driven to the edge of the cliff.  Several hundred
+surrendered, and many more might have been taken prisoners but for the
+fact that the Indians had got beyond control, and refused to give
+quarters to their hated foe.  Seizing men who were willing to
+surrender, they hurled them from the cliff into the water below.
+Scores of Americans, fearing the vengeance of the Indians, jumped from
+the cliff and were drowned, and many others fought stubbornly until
+they reached the brink and fell backwards.  A terribly sanguinary fight
+had resulted in a victory for the British; but it had been dearly
+bought.  The British general was dead, and the battle-field was strewn
+with the bodies of brave volunteers who had died in defence of their
+homes and liberty.
+
+Before the last of the invaders had surrendered or been killed, Laura
+Secord was on the battlefield searching for her husband.  She found
+Captain Secord's men, but he was not with them, and not one of them
+knew where he was.  In the hand-to-hand fight they had lost sight of
+their captain, but they pointed out to the distressed lady the spot
+where they had fought.
+
+Hither Laura Secord hurried, and where the dead and dying lay thick she
+found her husband terribly wounded.  Falling on her knees beside him,
+she called him by name, but he gave no sign that he heard her.
+Believing him to be dead, she cried bitterly, and taking him up in her
+arms carried him to their house.  Then as she laid him down she found
+to her great joy that he still breathed.
+
+By her tender nursing she saved his life, although his recovery was
+very slow.  Winter and spring passed, and summer came, and Captain
+Secord was still an invalid and unable to walk.  It was a great trial
+to him to be kept to the house, fur another American force had landed
+at Queenston, and occupied the town and neighbourhood.  It had been
+impossible to remove Captain Secord when the other Canadians retired,
+and thus he and his wife were left in the midst of the Americans.  But,
+as it turned out, it was a happy thing for the British that he was too
+ill to be removed.
+
+One day, towards the end of June, some American officers entered the
+Secords' house, and commanded Laura to give them food.  She did so, and
+while waiting on them listened to all they said.  Of course she did not
+let them see that she was taking an interest in their conversation, and
+succeeded in making them believe that she was a very simple and
+unintelligent person.  Imagining that she would not understand what
+they were saying, they began to discuss their general's plans, and
+unwittingly revealed to her the fact that a surprise attack was to be
+made on the British force.  When the officers, having eaten a hearty
+meal, departed, Laura Secord repeated to her husband all that they had
+said.
+
+Captain Secord was at a loss what to do.  The British would have to be
+warned of the attack, but who could he get to pass the American pickets
+and carry a message through twenty miles of bush?  Never before had he
+felt so keenly his helpless condition.
+
+But his despair was short-lived, for his wife declared that she would
+carry the news to the British general.  Quickly she told him her plans,
+and although it seemed to him that there was little prospect of her
+being able to carry them out, he did not attempt to dissuade her from
+the undertaking.
+
+At daybreak the following morning Laura Secord, disguised as a
+farm-maid, quitted the house bare-footed and bare-legged, and walked
+straight to the cow to milk her.  But she had scarcely begun her task
+when the cow kicked over the milking pail and ran forward towards the
+bush.  The American soldiers laughed heartily at the mishap, but
+ignoring them Laura Secord picked up her stool and pail and ran after
+the cow.  Her second attempt to milk her ended in the same way--the cow
+kicked over the pail and frisked a few yards nearer to the bush.  To
+the delight of the soldiers this performance was repeated several
+times, and chasing the cow Laura Secord passed the pickets and entered
+the bush.  The Americans saw her make another and equally unsuccessful
+attempt at milking.  Soon cow and milk-maid were lost to sight.  Again
+Laura Secord approached the cow and began to milk her, and this time
+the animal stood quietly.
+
+The pinch which Laura Secord had given the cow on the previous
+occasions was not repeated, and the milking could soon have been
+finished, had the brave woman time to spare.  Sitting on her stool, she
+peered in the direction whence she came and listened.  Convinced that
+the soldiers had not had their suspicions aroused, she sprang up and
+leaving cow, pail and stool, started on her long journey.
+
+Hour after hour she pressed forward, fearful that at any moment she
+might come face to face with the enemy's scouts.  Nor was this the only
+danger she had to fear.  The bush was infested with venomous snakes,
+and on several occasions she found one lying in her path.  Sometimes
+she succeeded in frightening away the reptile, but frequently she was
+compelled to make a detour to avoid it.  Her feet and legs were torn
+and bleeding, but still she plodded on, across hill and dale, through
+swamp and stream.
+
+When night came she was still wearily trudging along, but uncertain
+whether she was proceeding in the right direction.  Again and again she
+fell to the ground, and would have lain there, but for the knowledge
+that the lives of hundreds of her countrymen would be lost if she did
+not reach the British lines quickly.  This thought spurred her on.
+
+Exhausted, bleeding and hungry, she continued her journey, praying to
+God to give her strength to reach her destination.
+
+Hours passed, and at length she became so exhausted that her hope of
+reaching the British grew faint.  She felt that if she fell again she
+would not have the strength to rise.  Then suddenly the air was filled
+with the war-whoop of the Red Indians, and a score of the dreaded
+savages sprang from their hiding-places and surrounded her.
+
+Indians were fighting for the Americans as well as for the British, and
+the atrocities which they perpetrated made the war of 1812 one of the
+most bitter, most unchivalrous, that had been waged between civilized
+nations for many years.  Believing her captors to be allies of the
+Americans, Laura Secord felt that her last hour had come, but imagine
+her joy when, a few moments later she discovered that they were scouts
+of the British force.
+
+Quickly she was carried to the British lines, and at her own request
+was taken at once to the officer in command, whom she told of the
+impending attack.  After praising Laura Secord for her bravery, and
+ordering that her wants should be attended to immediately, the officer
+proceeded to make use of the information she had brought him; and so
+well did he lay his plans, and so quickly were they carried out, that
+the Americans, instead of surprising the British, were themselves
+surprised, and every man in the force captured.
+
+
+
+
+LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE.
+
+During the Great Rebellion many brave deeds were performed by women.
+Royalists and Parliamentarians each had their heroines, and we can
+honour them all, irrespective of party, for their devotion to the cause
+which they had espoused, and rejoice in the fact that they were British
+women.
+
+Lady Bankes was a woman whom Roundheads as well as Cavaliers admitted
+to be a noble specimen of an English lady.  She was the wife of the
+Right Honourable Sir John Bankes, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and
+a member of His Majesty's Privy Council.
+
+When it began to appear that the differences between King Charles and
+his Parliament would be settled by arms, Lady Bankes retired with her
+children to Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire.  Sir John was on circuit at
+the time, but it was soon discovered that he had supplied the king with
+money to carry on war against his Parliament, and for this reason he
+became a marked man.  He was not, however, a Royalist who hoped to keep
+his appointment by concealing his opinions from the Roundheads.  At the
+Salisbury assizes he made his charge to the grand jury an opportunity
+for denouncing as guilty of high treason several peers who had taken up
+arms against the king.  For this Parliament denounced him as a traitor,
+and declared his property forfeited.
+
+No attempt was, however, made to seize Corfe Castle until May 1643,
+when all the other castles in the neighbourhood having been captured,
+it was the only one held by a Royalist.  The Parliamentary army was
+well aware that Sir John Bankes was not at the castle, and that Lady
+Bankes had a very small force of servants to protect her, and
+consequently it was, for some time, not considered necessary to capture
+it.  It was believed that Lady Bankes, shut up in her own castle, was
+powerless to harm Cromwell's army.  But, eventually, it was decided
+that it was unwise not to interfere with a place that was notoriously a
+Royalist possession, and it was decided to capture it.
+
+The day fixed for the event was the first of May.  On that day it was
+the custom of the gentlemen of Corfe Castle to hunt a stag on the
+island, and any one who liked to do so might participate in the sport.
+The Roundheads decided to attend the hunt, seize the men from the
+castle, and then capture the castle itself.  But the arrival of an
+exceptionally large number of people to attend the hunt aroused the
+suspicions of the few Royalists, who quickly withdrew to the castle and
+gave instructions that the gates were to be kept shut against anyone
+seeking admission.
+
+Having failed to capture the Royalists in the hunting-field, the rebels
+came to the castle, and pretending that they were peaceable country
+folk, craved permission to be allowed to see the interior.  The
+permission was refused, and some of the soldiers, angry at the failure
+of the plot, forgot the part they were playing, and threatened to
+return and gain admission by force.  The officers, anxious not to
+arouse Lady Bankes's suspicions, loudly reprimanded their men for
+making foolish threats, and assured her ladyship that they had no
+intention of doing as their men had vowed.
+
+Lady Bankes did not, however, believe the rebel officers, and,
+convinced that an attack would shortly be made on the castle, she
+prepared to defend it.  She had no Royalist troops whatever in the
+castle, and her first step, therefore, was to call in a number of men
+whom she could rely upon.  But no sooner were the men instructed in
+their duties than the rebels demanded that the four small guns which
+were mounted on the wall should be given up.
+
+Lady Bankes refused to surrender them, and some days later forty seamen
+came and demanded them.  Now at that hour Lady Bankes had only five men
+in the castle, but pretending that she had a large garrison, she
+refused the seamen's demand, and caused one of the guns to be fired
+over their heads.  The report of this gun, which only carried a
+three-pound ball, so alarmed the seamen that they fled in dismay.  They
+must have been very different from the men who sailed under Blake, and
+made the Commonwealth's navy world-famed.
+
+No sooner had the timorous seamen fled than Lady Bankes summoned to the
+castle all her tenants and friendly neighbours, to assist her to hold
+the place until her husband should return.  They came in quickly, many
+bringing arms, and vowed to fight for her and King Charles; but the
+Roundheads, discovering who had entered the castle, went to the homes
+of these men, and told their wives that unless their husbands returned
+home their houses would be burned to the ground.  The frightened wives
+thereupon made their way to the castle and implored their husbands to
+return.  Some of the men did as their wives desired, but others would
+not break the promise they had made to the mistress of Corfe Castle.
+
+The enemy now decided to starve out Lady Bankes, and threatened to kill
+anyone caught conveying food to the castle.  This measure was
+effective, for Lady Bankes, being without sufficient food and
+ammunition to withstand a siege, agreed to deliver up the guns, on the
+condition that she should remain in possession of the castle unmolested.
+
+Lady Bankes had, however, little confidence in the honour of the
+attacking party, and felt assured that they would before long, in spite
+of their promise, endeavour to take possession of the castle.  This was
+made evident by the behaviour of the soldiers, who, although they did
+not enter the castle, did not hesitate to boast that it belonged to
+them, and that they would take possession of it whenever it was
+required.  But Lady Bankes was determined that it should not, if she
+could possibly prevent it, fall into the hands of the enemy.  Therefore
+she gave instructions that the men appointed to watch the castle should
+be supplied liberally with food and drink, with the result that they
+neglected to do their duty, and allowed Lady Bankes to smuggle in
+sufficient provisions and ammunition to withstand a long siege.
+Moreover, Lady Bankes despatched a messenger to Prince Maurice, asking
+him to send a force to help her hold the castle against the enemy, and
+in reply to her appeal Captain Lawrence and some eighty men arrived
+upon the scene.
+
+The Parliamentarians had now become aware of the fact that Lady Bankes
+was taking steps to render the castle capable of withstanding a siege,
+and they decided to occupy it at once.
+
+On June 23, 1643, Sir Walter Earle arrived before the castle with a
+force of about 600 men, and called upon Lady Bankes to surrender, which
+she firmly but courteously declined to do.  Her refusal greatly
+incensed the besiegers, who thereupon took an oath that 'if they found
+the defendants obstinate not to yield, they would maintain the siege to
+victory, and then deny quarter unto all, killing without mercy men,
+women and children.'
+
+The Parliamentarians, possessing several pieces of ordnance, opened
+fire on the castle from all quarters, but did comparatively little
+damage, and their attempts to carry it by assault were equally
+unsuccessful.
+
+When some days had passed, and the attacking forces were no nearer
+capturing the castle than when they first arrived, the Earl of Warwick
+sent to their assistance 150 sailors, a large supply of ammunition and
+numerous scaling-ladders.  Possessing these ladders, the Roundheads
+anticipated that the castle would soon be in their hands.  They divided
+their force into two parties, one assaulting the middle ward, which was
+defended by Captain Lawrence, and the other, the upper ward, where Lady
+Bankes, her daughters, women-servants and five soldiers were the sole
+defenders.
+
+As the Parliamentarians fixed their ladders against the castle wall
+Lady Bankes and her brave assistants showered down upon them red-hot
+stones and flaming wood.  The soldiers too, delighted at the bravery of
+the mistress of the castle, fought desperately, and not one of the
+enemy succeeded in gaining entrance to the castle.
+
+Sir Walter Earle, seeing that he could not carry the castle by assault,
+withdrew with a loss of one hundred killed and wounded.  He would in
+all probability have made another attack, but during the evening the
+news reached him that the king's forces were approaching, and overcome
+by fear he ordered a retreat, leaving behind muskets, ammunition and
+guns, all of which fell into the hands of Lady Bankes and her gallant
+garrison.
+
+After this siege, which had lasted for six weeks, Lady Bankes was
+allowed to remain for two years in undisturbed possession of the
+castle; but she lived in the knowledge that at any time another attempt
+to capture it might be made, as it was the only place of any importance
+between Exeter and London that remained loyal to the royal cause.
+Threats were constantly reaching her from certain members of the
+Parliamentary party, and to add to her trials her husband, whom she had
+not seen for two years, died at Oxford on December 28, 1644.
+
+In October, 1645, the Parliamentary army decided to make another and
+more determined effort to capture Corfe Castle, and a large force was
+sent to besiege it.  Lady Bankes and her handful of men had now pitted
+against them some of the best regiments in the victorious
+Parliamentarian army, but they scorned to surrender to them.
+
+It was in January of the following year that a young officer--Colonel
+Cromwell--determined to make an effort to rescue Lady Bankes, and
+riding with a specially picked troop from Oxford he passed through the
+enemy without its being discovered that he was a Royalist until he
+arrived at Wareham, the governor of which fired upon the troop.  A
+fight ensued, but the daring troopers speedily captured the governor
+and other leading men, and rode off to Corfe Castle, only, however, to
+find that between them and the besieged lay a strong force of the
+enemy.  They did not hesitate, but prepared instantly for the fight,
+and the besieged, cheering them loudly, made ready to sally forth and
+assist them.
+
+Afraid of being caught between the two Royalist parties, the besiegers
+retired, and Colonel Cromwell rode up in triumph to the castle walls,
+and handed over to Lady Bankes, for safe custody, the Governor of
+Wareham and other prisoners whom he had taken.
+
+Greatly to Colonel Cromwell's surprise, Lady Bankes declined to avail
+herself of the opportunity for escape which he had contrived, declaring
+that she would defend the castle as long as she possessed ammunition.
+Thinking that he could render the king greater service in the open than
+in a besieged castle, Colonel Cromwell rode off with his troop, but
+losing his way he and many of his men were captured by the enemy.
+Those who evaded capture made their way back to Corfe Castle, and
+assisted in its defence.
+
+Days passed without the enemy improving his position in the slightest
+degree, and Lady Bankes would have kept the royal flag flying for many
+months more, had there not been traitors in the castle.  Colonel
+Lawrence, who had gallantly assisted in the first defence of Corfe
+Castle, was persuaded by the Governor of Wareham to help him to escape,
+and to accompany him on his flight.  The treachery of Lawrence was a
+heavy blow for Lady Bankes, but she did not despair, believing it
+impossible that any other of her friends would turn traitor.
+Unfortunately she was mistaken.  An officer, who had hitherto been
+loyal and energetic as Colonel Lawrence, secretly sent word to the
+officer commanding the besieging force that if protection were given
+him he would deliver up the castle.  The proposal was welcomed, and
+after much secret correspondence it was settled that fifty men of the
+Parliamentarian army should disguise themselves as Royalists, and be
+admitted into the castle by the traitor.
+
+This plan succeeded.  The men were admitted without arousing any
+suspicion, and not until the following morning did the garrison
+discover that they had been betrayed.  A brief fight ensued, but
+resistance was useless, and with a sad heart Lady Bankes surrendered
+the castle which she had so nobly defended for nearly three years.
+
+The Parliamentarian officer who accepted the surrender was a humane
+man, and took care that his troops should not fulfil their vow to put
+to death every man, woman and child found in the castle.  After the
+place had been plundered, an attempt was made to destroy it, but the
+walls were so massive that its destruction was impossible, and to-day
+much of it is still standing.
+
+Lady Bankes was not kept prisoner for long, and Oliver Cromwell
+ordained that she should not be made to suffer for her loyalty and
+bravery.  Throughout the Commonwealth the heroine of Corfe Castle lived
+peacefully, and did not die until Charles II. had been upon the throne
+nearly a year.  She died on April 11, 1661, and in Ruislip Church,
+Middlesex, there is a monument, erected to her memory by her son, Sir
+Ralph Bankes, on which is inscribed a record of her brave defence.
+
+
+
+
+LADY HARRIET ACLAND.
+
+A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR.
+
+It was at the beginning of the year 1776 that Major Acland was ordered
+to proceed with his regiment to America, to take part in the attempt to
+quell the rising of the colonists.  His wife, to whom he had been
+married six years, at once asked to be allowed to accompany him, but he
+hesitated to give his consent, being doubtful whether she would be able
+to bear the hardships of a campaign.
+
+Hitherto her life had been one of comfort.  She was the third daughter
+of the first Earl of Ilchester, and her training had not been such as
+would qualify her for roughing it.  Major Acland did not, however,
+offer any objections when his wife, fearing that he thought the life
+would be too hard for her, declared that she had made up her mind to
+accompany him.
+
+Arriving in Canada, she soon found that campaigning was more arduous
+than she had imagined.  Her husband's regiment was continually on the
+march, and she suffered greatly from cold, fatigue and want of proper
+food.
+
+When they had been in Canada about a year, Major Acland became
+dangerously ill, and his wife, herself in ill-health, was his only
+nurse.  Although the twenty-seven years of her life had been without
+any experience of nursing, she soon became efficient, and before long
+had the pleasure of knowing that by her care and attention she had
+saved her husband's life.  But before Major Acland had fully regained
+his strength he was ordered to rejoin his regiment, to take part in the
+attack upon Ticonderoga.
+
+So far Lady Harriet had followed her husband from place to place, and
+she prepared to accompany him to Ticonderoga; but, knowing that the
+fight would be a severe one, he insisted upon her remaining behind.
+She obeyed him, but was miserable during his absence, and would have
+preferred the greatest hardships to sitting idle, waiting to hear the
+result of the battle.  It was a hard-fought one, but Ticonderoga was
+captured by the British, and the news filled Lady Harriet with joy, for
+her husband, who sent her the message, told her that he was unhurt.
+The joy was short-lived, however.  Two days later Lady Harriet was
+informed that on the day following the capture of Ticonderoga her
+husband had been dangerously wounded.  Reproaching herself for having
+been away from him in time of danger, she started off at once to where
+he lay, and by careful nursing she again saved his life.
+
+Lady Harriet had decided, during her husband's last illness, to follow
+him everywhere, no matter how great the danger; and when she was once
+more on the march some of the artillerymen, anxious to make her
+self-imposed task lighter, constructed for her a small two-wheeled
+carriage.
+
+Major Acland commanded the grenadiers, whose duty it was to be at the
+most advanced post of the army, and consequently Lady Harriet was
+always in danger of being killed or captured.  She, like the officers,
+lay down in her clothes, so that she might be ready at any moment to
+advance.  One night the tent in which she and her husband were sleeping
+caught fire, and had it not been for the prompt and gallant conduct of
+an orderly-sergeant, who at great personal risk dragged them out, they
+would have been suffocated or burnt to death.  As it was, Major Acland
+was severely burnt, and all their personal belongings were lost.
+
+Instead of being disheartened by the hardships and mishaps which fell
+to her lot, Lady Harriet became more cheerful as time went on; but
+another severe trial was in store for her.  Major Acland informed her
+that as they would in all probability engage the enemy in a day or two,
+she would have to remain in the care of the baggage guard, which was
+unlikely to be exposed to danger.  Lady Harriet protested, being
+anxious to accompany her husband into battle, but she was compelled to
+do as the major desired.  Here among the baggage she had for companions
+two other ladies, wives of officers.
+
+When the action began Lady Harriet was seated in a small hut which she
+had found unoccupied, and here she remained listening to the artillery
+and musketry fire, and praying that her husband might come out of the
+fight uninjured.  Soon, however, she had to vacate the hut, for the
+surgeons told her that they required it, as the fight was fierce, and
+the men were falling fast.  Unwittingly the surgeons had alarmed her.
+If men were falling fast there was little chance of her husband, whose
+place was in the front line of attack, escaping injury.
+
+For four hours the battle raged fiercely, but Lady Harriet could obtain
+no news other husband.  He was not among the wounded or dead who had
+been brought to the rear, but she feared that at any moment she might
+see him lying white and still on a stretcher.  The two ladies who
+waited with her were equally anxious for news from the front, and for
+them it came soon, and cruelly.  The husband of one was brought back
+mortally wounded, and a little later the other was told that her
+husband had been shot dead.
+
+The battle ceased, and the last of the wounded was brought to the
+surgeons, but still Lady Harriet was without news of Major Acland, and
+it was not until many hours later that she heard he was still alive.
+Her joy was tempered by the knowledge that the fighting would be
+renewed before many days had elapsed.
+
+At last, on October 7, 1777, the second battle of Saratoga was fought.
+Lady Harriet was once again doomed to listen to the sound of cannon and
+musketry, and to see a sad procession of wounded moving to the rear.
+As time passed without any news of her husband reaching her, she began
+to hope that he would pass through the battle uninjured; but this was
+not to be.  Soon the news came that the British, under General
+Burgoyne, had been defeated, and that Major Acland, seriously wounded,
+had been taken prisoner.
+
+For a time Lady Harriet was overcome with grief, but growing calmer she
+determined to make an attempt to join her husband in the American camp
+and nurse him there.  'When the army was upon the point of moving after
+the halt described,' General Burgoyne wrote in his account of the
+campaign, 'I received a message from Lady Harriet, submitting to my
+decision a proposal (and expressing an earnest solicitude to execute
+it, if not interfering with my designs) of passing to the camp of the
+enemy, and requesting General Gates's permission to attend her husband.
+Though I was ready to believe (for I had experienced) that patience and
+fortitude in a supreme degree were to be found, as well as every other
+virtue, under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal.
+After so long an agitation of the spirits, exhausted not only for want
+of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rains for twelve
+hours together, that a woman should be capable such an undertaking as
+delivering herself to the enemy, probably in the night, and uncertain
+of what hands she might first fall into, appeared an effort above human
+nature.  The assistance I was enabled to give was small indeed; I had
+not even a cup of wine to offer her; but I was told she had found, from
+some kind and fortunate hand, a little rum and dirty water.  All I
+could furnish to her was an open boat and a few lines, written upon
+dirty and wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her to his
+protection.'
+
+Accompanied by an army chaplain and two servants, Lady Harriet
+proceeded up the Hudson River in an open boat to the enemy's outposts;
+but the American sentry, fearing treachery, refused to allow her to
+land, and ignoring the white handkerchief which she held aloft,
+threatened to shoot anyone in the boat who ventured to move.  For eight
+hours, unprotected from the night air, Lady Harriet sat shivering in
+the boat, but at daybreak she prevailed upon the sentry to have her
+letter delivered to General Gates.  The American general readily gave
+permission for her to join her husband, who, she found, had been shot
+through both legs, in addition to having received several minor wounds.
+His condition was serious, but Lady Harriet succeeded in nursing him
+into comparatively good health.
+
+When Major Acland was sufficiently recovered to be able to travel he
+returned with his wife to England, where the story of Lady Harriet's
+bravery and devotion was already well-known.  A portrait of her, in
+which she is depicted standing in the boat holding aloft a white
+handkerchief, was exhibited in the Royal Academy and engraved.  Sir
+Joshua Reynolds also painted a portrait of her.
+
+Lady Harriet, 'the heroine of the American War,' lived, admired and
+respected, for thirty-seven years after her husband's death, dying
+deeply mourned at Tatton, Somersetshire, on July 21, 1815.
+
+'Let such as are affected by these circumstances of alarm, hardship and
+danger, recollect,' General Burgoyne wrote, 'that the subject of them
+was a woman, of the most tender and delicate frame, of the gentlest
+manners, habituated to all the soft elegances and refined enjoyments
+that attend high birth and fortune.  Her mind alone was formed for such
+trials.'  But in very many cases heroines have been women from whom few
+would have expected heroism.  The blustering braggart does not often
+prove to be a hero in time of danger, and the gentle, unassuming woman
+is the type of which heroines are frequently made.  The aristocracy the
+middle and the lower classes, have each given us many heroines of this
+type.
+
+
+
+
+AIMÉE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+Napoleon was entering Moscow in triumph.  It was night, and the streets
+of the Russian capital were deserted, but at a window of one house past
+which the victorious troops were marching sat a French lady, eagerly
+scanning the faces of the officers.  Her husband, Captain Ladoinski, of
+the Polish Lancers, was somewhere among the troops, but she failed to
+recognise him as he rode by.  Soon, however, he was at her house, and
+great was the joy of meeting after long separation.
+
+After the first greeting, Aimée Ladoinski noticed that her husband was
+wounded, and although he spoke lightly of his wound, it was not a
+slight one.  Moreover, it had been aggravated by want of attention, for
+Napoleon's surgeons did not at this time possess the proper appliances
+for dressing wounds.  Captain Ladoinski's wound had been dressed with
+moss and bandaged with parchment!  In a few minutes after making this
+discovery Madame Ladoinski had bandaged her husband's wound with lint
+and linen.  It was a great relief to the warrior, and settling down in
+a comfortable chair he proceeded to question his wife as to how she had
+fared during his absence, and then to relate his own adventures.
+
+Suddenly, as they sat talking, a fierce red light shone into the room,
+which had until then been in darkness, except for the feeble glimmer
+from a shaded lamp in the corner.  Rising quickly, Madame Ladoinski
+went to the window, closely followed by her husband, who uttered an
+exclamation of surprise when he saw that a fire was raging in the newly
+captured city.
+
+Taking up his lance Captain Ladoinski hurried out, to order his men to
+assist in subduing the fire, but at the doorway he was met by a
+messenger who made known to him Napoleon's command, that the troops
+billeted in that portion of the town were not to leave their quarters.
+Surprised at this order, Captain Ladoinski returned to his wife, and
+together they watched from their window the rapidly extending fire.
+The burning part of the city was at a considerable distance from where
+they stood, but it seemed to them that unless prompt measures were
+taken it would be impossible to save the city from utter destruction.
+Hundreds of soldiers were resting near them who might have been busily
+employed in checking the progress of the flames.  The truth dawned on
+both of them.  Napoleon did not see his way to save Moscow from this
+new calamity.
+
+Now Aimée Ladoinski had resided for some time in Moscow, and its
+streets and palaces were familiar to her, and the thought of their
+ruthless destruction to thwart the designs of one man filled her with
+shame--shame that he who had caused this act of vandalism was a
+Frenchman.
+
+Madame Ladoinski did not admire Napoleon, for she was at heart a
+Bourbon, and regarded him as an usurper.  The reckless sacrifice of
+thousands of his fellow countrymen for his own aggrandisement filled
+her with loathing for the man, and she did not conceal her feelings
+from her husband, who made no attempt to defend the emperor.  It was
+not for love of him that Captain Ladoinski had fought under 'the Little
+Corporal.'  He was a Pole, and it was because Napoleon was fighting the
+oppressor of the Polish race--Russia--that he fought for the French.
+The Russians had been humbled, and he, a Pole, had marched as one of a
+victorious army into their capital.  But secretly he wondered if the
+condition of much-persecuted Poland would be better under Napoleon than
+it was under Russia.  His wife candidly declared that it would not be.
+Napoleon had promised he would free Poland from the Russian yoke, but
+she felt convinced that it would simply be to place the country under
+French rule.
+
+'And, wherefore,' she said to her husband, as we read in Watson's
+_Heroic Women of History_, 'should Poland find such solitary grace in
+the eyes of Europe's conquerors?  Shall all the nations lie prostrate
+at his feet, and Poland alone be permitted to stand by his side as an
+equal?  Be wise, my dear Ladoinski.  You confess that the conqueror
+lent but a lifeless ear to the war-cry of your country.  Be timely
+wise; open your eyes, and see that this cold-hearted victor--wrapped in
+his own dark and selfish aims--uses the sword of the patriot Pole only,
+like that of the prostrate Prussian, to hew the way to his own throne
+of universal dominion....  Believe it, this proud man did not enslave
+all Europe to become the liberator of Poland.  Ah! trust me, that is
+but poor freedom which consists only In a change of masters.  O
+Ladoinski!  Ladoinski! give up this mad emprise; return to the bosom of
+your family; and when your compatriots arise to assert their rights at
+the call of their country, and not at the heartless beck of a stranger
+despot, I will buckle the helmet on your brow.'
+
+Captain Ladoinski was inclined to believe that his wife had spoken the
+truth when she said that Napoleon would forget the Poles, now that
+Russia was crushed.  Posing as a disinterested man eager to deliver the
+Poles from the hands of their oppressor, Napoleon had gathered round
+him a band of brave men, who fought with the determination of men
+fighting for their homes and liberty.  They had served his purpose, and
+he would reward them, not with the freedom he had promised, but with
+the intimation that they were now his subjects.  It was a terrible
+disappointment, but Captain Ladoinski consoled himself with the belief
+that French rule would not be so hard to bear as the Russian had been.
+
+The fire spread apace.  It was a grand yet terrible scene, the like of
+which, it is to be hoped, will never again be witnessed.  Soon the heat
+became unbearable in the quarter of the city where the Ladoinskis stood
+and watched, and sparks and big flaring brands fell in showers.  Unless
+they departed quickly they would be burned to death.
+
+Captain Ladoinski could not seek safety in flight, for he had been
+commanded to remain in his quarters, and the order had not been
+cancelled.  Assuring his wife that he would soon be at liberty to leave
+his post, he urged her to depart with their child and wait for him
+outside the city.  This she refused to do, declaring that as long as he
+remained where he was she would stay with him.  And this determination
+he could not alter, although he used every persuasion possible to that
+end.
+
+On came the flames, crackling, hissing and roaring, and soon the houses
+facing the Ladoinskis would be engulfed in them.  The captain would not
+quit his post without orders, and his wife would not leave him.  Death
+seemed certain, and they were preparing to meet it, when suddenly an
+order came from head-quarters ordering the troops to evacuate the city
+with all despatch.  Instantly the retreat began, but many men fell in
+the scorching, suffocating streets never to rise again.  Captain
+Ladoinski and his wife and child had many narrow escapes from the fiery
+brands which fell hissing into the roads as they hurried on towards the
+suburbs, but fortunately they received no injury.
+
+Arriving on high ground, and safe from the fire's onslaught, the
+Ladoinskis stood, with thousands of Napoleon's army, gazing at the
+destruction of Moscow.  The captain, remembering the havoc which the
+Russians had wrought by fire and sword in Warsaw, rejoiced to see their
+capital in flames; but his wife checked his rejoicing by warning him
+that the destruction of Moscow would not bring freedom to Poland.
+
+And now began Napoleon's retreat.  Terrible were the sufferings of the
+men, but it is only with Madame Ladoinski's trials that we are
+concerned.  Knowing that after the burning of Moscow it would be
+dangerous for any French person to remain in Russia, she, with many
+other people of her nationality, accompanied the French army on its
+disastrous retreat.  She travelled in a baggage-wagon, which at any
+rate afforded her and her child some protection from the frost and
+snow.  To her the journey was not so terrible an undertaking as to some
+of her compatriots, for she had the pleasure of being daily with her
+husband, after some years of separation.  But her pleasure soon
+received a rude shock.  The Cossacks hung on with tenacity to the
+remains of the great French army, swooping down at unexpected times
+upon some dispirited, disorganised section, cutting it to pieces, and
+recapturing some of the spoil with which the troops were loaded.
+
+Captain Ladoinski was present when one of these attacks was made, and,
+while assisting to repel the attackers, received a dangerous wound.  A
+place was found for him in the baggage-wagon, and there he lay for
+days, tenderly nursed by his wife.  The road was blocked in many places
+with abandoned guns, dead horses, and broken-down wagons, and
+travelling was difficult.  Some of the wagons had not broken down
+accidentally or through hard wear, but had been tampered with by the
+drivers.  Many a terrible act was perpetrated in baggage-wagons during
+the retreat from Moscow.  In these wagons, among the spoil taken from
+the capital, were placed the wounded, frequently unattended and without
+protection.  Many of the drivers, anxious to possess some of the spoil
+with which their wagons were loaded, weakened the axle, so that it
+should collapse.  The bedraggled soldiers would march on, and when the
+drivers were well in rear of the force they murdered their wounded
+passengers and looted the wagons.
+
+One night Madame Ladoinski was awakened by the stoppage of their wagon.
+She had heard stories of the murdering of the wounded by wagon-drivers,
+but she had not believed them, and after peeping out at the
+snow-covered country, and seeing that soldiers and other wagons were
+near, she lay down again, and in a few minutes was sleeping soundly--a
+sleep from which in all probability she would not have awakened, so
+intense was the cold, had not the wagon arrived at Smolensk, a depôt of
+the French army, an hour later.  Her life was saved by the prompt
+attention of a young officer, who glanced into the wagon, and was
+surprised to find her lying insensible with her child beside her.
+Calling to some brother officers, he jumped into the wagon and poured a
+little brandy into Madame Ladoinski's mouth.  Then, when she began to
+show signs of returning consciousness, he and his companions lifted her
+from the wagon to carry her and her boy to a house where they would be
+properly warmed, fed and nursed.
+
+On the way some of the officers recognised her as Captain Ladoinski's
+wife, and they were naturally surprised to find her in such a sad
+condition.  'Where is Ladoinski?' they asked each other; and one
+replied that on the previous day he had seen him, wounded, in the wagon
+with his wife and child.  Some expressed the belief that he had died of
+his wounds, but others declared that he must have been murdered by the
+wagon-drivers, who, scoundrels though they were, had possessed
+sufficient humanity to spare the woman and child.
+
+As in a dream, Madame Ladoinski had heard the conversation of the
+officers, and suddenly she grasped the meaning of what they had said.
+
+'My husband! my husband!' she cried, wildly.  'Where is he?'
+
+The officers, distressed at her grief, told her that when the wagon
+arrived at Smolensk, she and her boy were the only people in it.  Of
+her husband they had seen or heard nothing, and the wagon-drivers had
+disappeared soon after reaching the city.  They endeavoured to cheer
+her, however, by assuring her that he was, no doubt, not far away, and
+would soon return to her.  But she, remembering what they had said when
+they believed her to be unconscious, was not calmed by their
+well-intentioned words.
+
+Two days passed, and nothing was seen or heard of Captain Ladoinski,
+although the officers who had taken an interest in his wife made every
+effort to obtain news of him.  They were in their own minds convinced
+that he was dead, but in order that a searching enquiry might be made,
+they obtained for her an interview with two of the most powerful of
+Napoleon's officers--the King of Naples and Prince Eugène Beauharnais,
+Viceroy of Italy.  These officers listened quietly to the story of her
+husband's disappearance, and having expressed their sympathy with her,
+an aide-de-camp was summoned and ordered to make immediate enquiries
+among the wagon-drivers as to the fate of Captain Ladoinski.  The
+aide-de-camp answered respectfully that he and several of his brother
+officers had already closely questioned every wagon-driver they could
+find, and that the men had sworn that Captain Ladoinski had died during
+the night of cold and of his wounds, and that his body had been thrown
+out into the snow.  Madame Ladoinski, they declared, was insensible
+from cold when her husband died.
+
+Clasping her boy, Madame Ladoinski burst into tears.  For a few minutes
+she sat sobbing bitterly, but then, in the midst of her grief, she
+remembered that she was encroaching on the time of the officers before
+her.  Controlling her tears as well as she was able, she asked for a
+safe-conduct for herself and child.  As a Frenchwoman and the widow of
+a Polish rebel she would receive, she reminded her hearers, no mercy if
+she fell into the hands of the Russians.  Her husband had fought for
+the French, and she claimed French protection.  Instantly the two
+marshals declared that she should have the protection she asked, and
+Prince Eugène offered her a seat in a wagon that would accompany his
+division when it started in the course of a few days.
+
+Madame Ladoinski accepted the offer with gratitude, whereupon the
+aide-de-camp was informed that she was to be placed in a baggage-wagon,
+and that the drivers were to be told that if their passengers did not
+reach the end of the journey in safety they would answer for it with
+their lives.  On the other hand, if she arrived safely in Poland, and
+declared that she and her boy had been well-treated on the way, each
+driver would receive five hundred francs.
+
+In a few days Madame Ladoinski was once again in a baggage-wagon; but
+Napoleon's 'Grand Army' was now in a terrible condition.  Ragged,
+starving, dispirited by the constant harassing from the enemy, and the
+continuous marching through snow, it made but slow progress.  The
+gloomy forests through which the miserable army tramped on its way to
+attempt the passage of the Beresina were blocked with snow, and so
+difficult was it to move the guns that Napoleon ordered that one half
+of the baggage-wagons were to be destroyed, so that the horses and oxen
+might be utilised for dragging forward the artillery.  The wagon in
+which Madame Ladoinski rode was one of the number condemned to
+destruction, but the men who had been ordered to protect her speedily
+found room for her in another vehicle.
+
+A day or two later, when the bedraggled army was nearing the Polish
+frontier, Madame Ladoinski was startled from her dejection by hearing
+loud joyful shouts, and on enquiring of the driver the reason of the
+noise she was told that a reinforcement under Marshal Victor had
+unexpectedly arrived.
+
+Soon the reinforcements were passing the wagon, but Madame Ladoinski
+possessed neither the energy nor the curiosity to glance out at them.
+She could think of nothing but her dead husband and her little orphaned
+boy.  But suddenly as she sat brooding over her great loss she heard,
+'Forward, lancers!' uttered in Polish.  Believing that it was her
+husband's voice she had heard, she sprang up and looked out at the
+troop trotting ahead.  But she could not recognise her husband among
+the lancers, and she turned to sit down, believing that she was the
+victim of a delusion.  To her surprise she saw her little son standing,
+with a finger uplifted to urge silence, listening eagerly.
+
+'What is it, darling?' she asked.
+
+'Father!' he replied.
+
+Again Madame Ladoinski's spirits rose, but they fell quickly when she
+remembered that the Polish Lancers had quitted Smolensk before she and
+her boy arrived there.  It was madness, therefore, to imagine that her
+wounded husband could be with Marshal Victor's army, and she dismissed
+the hope from her mind.
+
+Days of terrible suffering for Napoleon's army followed, but eventually
+Studzianka, on the left bank of the Beresina, was reached, and the
+soldiers hoped that once in Poland their trials would diminish.  Madame
+Ladoinski, her spirits reviving at the prospect of soon being in her
+husband's native land, lay listening to the noise of the men busily
+engaged in building the bridges over which the French army was to pass.
+Suddenly there was a tremendous uproar; shouts of joy, cries of
+triumph.  Looking out Madame Ladoinski saw at once the cause of the
+excitement--the enemy who had been encamped on the opposite bank of the
+river was in full retreat.  The fierce battle which she had dreaded, in
+case her boy might be injured, would not be fought.  Falling on her
+knees in the wagon, she thanked God for averting the danger she feared.
+
+Now that the Russians were gone, the cavalry swam their horses across
+the river, and took up a position that would protect the crossing of
+the foot soldiers.  The bridges were completed at last, and quickly the
+ragged regiments hurried over them.  The baggage-wagons were to be left
+until the last, and for hours Madame Ladoinski sat watching regiment
+after regiment hurry across.  Napoleon, stern and silent, passed close
+to her, and a mighty shout of 'Vive L'Empereur' burst from his
+trusting, long-suffering troops, when he gained the opposite bank.
+
+Soon after Napoleon had crossed, Prince Eugène came along, and seeing
+Madame Ladoinski he rode over to her, and told her cheerfully that she
+would soon be among her husband's friends, and that her trials would
+then be at an end.  Then, turning to the drivers, he commanded them not
+to forget the order he had given concerning their behaviour and care of
+the lady entrusted to them.
+
+When at last more than half the troops had crossed, the news arrived
+that the Russians had suddenly turned about and were marching back to
+the position they had vacated, while another strong body of the enemy
+was advancing to attack in the rear the troops which had not yet
+crossed.  Instantly there was a panic, and the wagon-drivers, anxious
+for their own safety, turned Madame Ladoinski and her companions out of
+the wagon, so that their weight might not impede their progress.
+Madame Ladoinski reminded them of Prince Eugène's instructions, but
+they took no notice.  Neither fear of punishment nor hope of reward had
+any influence over them now; they were anxious only for their own
+safety.
+
+For a minute or two Madame Ladoinski knew not what to do.  To attempt
+to cross either of the bridges on foot would, she soon saw, result in
+her and her child being crushed to death.  Others, men and women, had
+come to the same conclusion, and were wandering, shivering with cold,
+along the bank of the river.  These Madame Ladoinski hastened to,
+believing, as did they, that before long the bridges would be less
+crowded, and they would be able to cross in safety.
+
+But soon the sound of the Russian guns was heard in the rear of Madame
+Ladoinski and her fellow-sufferers, and a little later the cheers of
+the advancing enemy could be heard distinctly.  Marshal Victor's force,
+which lay between these unfortunate people and the Russians, fought
+gallantly at first, but at last they began to give way, and Madame
+Ladoinski feared that all was lost.  Nearer and nearer came the enemy,
+and many of their musket balls reached the despairing creatures by the
+riverside.  Approaching nearer to one of the bridges, Madame Ladoinski
+decided to join the crowd of terrified fugitives that was struggling
+across it.  But before she reached it there was a terrible rush for it,
+and she stood aghast looking at the awful scene.  Every one in the
+living mass was terrified, and each was fighting for his own life.
+Those who fell were quickly trampled to death by the hurrying mob, or
+crushed beneath the wheels of baggage-wagons and artillery.  Now and
+again some terrified man, possessed of more than average strength,
+would be seen making his way along the crowded bridge by seizing and
+pitching into the river any who barred his way.  And to add to the
+horror of the scene a terrible storm burst.
+
+Madame Ladoinski, horrified by what she saw, decided to make no attempt
+to cross, but to remain where she was.  Musket balls were now falling
+rapidly around her, and, to save her boy from the chance of being
+wounded, she laid him down on the ground, and placed herself in such a
+position that no ball could touch him unless it passed through her.
+Thick and fast the balls were flying, and Madame Ladoinski expected to
+receive at any minute a fatal wound, but, although men and women fell
+close around her, she remained unhurt.
+
+Slowly but surely Victor's men were driven back on the crowd that was
+still struggling to cross the bridge, and whose condition was made
+still more awful by the Russian infantry firing on it.
+
+At last some of the regiments fled in disorder before the advancing
+enemy, and a troop of horse dashed back within a few yards of Madame
+Ladoinski.
+
+'Stand, lancers, stand!' the officer was shouting to his men, and his
+voice sent a thrill of joy through Madame Ladoinski, for it was her
+husband's.
+
+She was confident of it this time, and almost immediately a strong gust
+of wind blew aside the smoke, which hung heavily over the battlefield,
+and there, not many yards away, was he whom she had believed to be
+dead.  In stirring tones he called upon his men to charge once again
+into the ranks of the enemy.
+
+'My love, my husband!' Madame Ladoinski called, still sheltering her
+boy with her body.  'It is I, it is Aimée.'  But the din of warfare and
+the roaring of the wind drowned her voice.  Again she called, but still
+he did not hear.
+
+'Lancers! forward,' he shouted.  'For God and Poland!  'For God and
+Poland!' his men answered, and spurring their horses they dashed
+forward once more to meet the enemy.  Ladoinski had not seen his wife,
+and perhaps he would never see her again!  Madame Ladoinski wept
+quietly; but as night began to draw nigh she determined to cross the
+bridge, thinking that she and her boy might as well risk being crushed
+on the bridge as being shot by the enemy.  But when she saw the crowd
+of human beings turned by terror into demons, she decided to remain
+where she was.
+
+A few minutes later, as she lay protecting her boy and gazing at the
+struggling mob, she saw the largest bridge sway, and almost instantly
+it collapsed and fell, with its struggling mass of human beings, into
+the icy river.  For a few minutes the terrified shrieks of the drowning
+men and women were heard even amidst the noise of battle and the
+roaring of the wind; then they ceased.
+
+It seemed to Madame Ladoinski that there was to be no end to the
+terrors of that day.  She felt that she was going out of her mind, and
+prayed that she and her boy might die quickly.
+
+Throughout the night Madame Ladoinski lay beside her boy in the snow.
+But she did not sleep a minute.  The thunder of the enemy's artillery,
+the sound of the musketry, and the noise of the disordered mob of
+soldiers who fought like demons to get safely across the one remaining
+bridge, would have prevented almost anyone from sleeping.
+
+When daylight came the Russians were so near that it was clear to
+Madame Ladoinski that unless she crossed the bridge immediately she
+would soon be a prisoner.  Lifting her boy, and sheltering him as much
+as possible, she hurried towards the bridge, but two or three times,
+when the enemy's fire increased in severity, she took cover for a few
+minutes.  At last she reached the bridge.  The crowd was not now great,
+and it would have been possible for her to cross without any fear of
+her boy being crushed, but no sooner had they put their feet on the
+bridge when shouts of 'Go back, go back!  Give yourselves up to the
+Russians,' burst from their comrades who had already crossed the river.
+Stupefied, the people fell back, and almost at the same moment the last
+bridge burst into flames.  To prevent the Russians from pursuing them,
+the French had burnt the bridge and left hundreds of their fellow
+countrymen to fall into the hands of the enemy.
+
+The Cossacks, who were first of the Russian army to reach the river,
+were more eager for plunder than slaughter, and Madame Ladoinski fled
+along the river bank with her child pressed to her bosom.  She had no
+idea of what to do, and for a time she escaped molestation.  Then she
+decided to make an attempt to struggle through the river.  She knew
+that there was very little probability of her being able to reach the
+other side, but it would be better for her and her little son to die
+than to fall into the hands of the semi-savage Cossacks.  Tying her boy
+to her, so that the fate of one might be the other's, she approached
+the water; but on the brink she was seized by a Russian.  Terrified,
+she screamed for help, and it was fortunate that she did so, for the
+remnants of the Polish Lancers--last to cease fighting the
+Russians--were entering the river not many yards away, and Captain
+Ladoinski heard her cries.  Calling to his men to come back, he urged
+his horse up the bank, and galloped along the riverside until he came
+to his wife and child.  The Russian fled at the approach of the Polish
+Lancers, and Captain Ladoinski lifted his wife and child on to his
+horse without recognising them.  Then quickly he put his horse to the
+river, and soon they were plunging through it with the water sometimes
+more than half over them, and musket balls lashing the river around
+them.
+
+Madame Ladoinski had recognised her husband the instant he placed her
+before him on his horse, and, overcome with joy, she had swooned before
+she could utter a word.  He remained quite unconscious of whom he had
+rescued until, in mid-stream, the shawl which had been over his wife's
+head and shoulders slipped and disclosed her face.  Joy did not cause
+the Polish captain to lose his wits, but made him more careful of his
+precious burden.  He had been in a reckless mood, courting death in
+fact, during the last quarter of an hour of the fight, but now he was
+anxious to live.  It would indeed be sad, he thought, if now, when
+safety was almost reached, a shot should lay him, or still worse, his
+wife, low.  But on through danger the brave horse struggled with his
+heavy load, and soon Captain Ladoinski was able to place his wife and
+son on dry land, and to give them the warmth and food which they sadly
+needed.
+
+Then when Madame Ladoinski had recovered from the excitement of again
+meeting her husband, he told her that he had long since been assured
+that both she and their boy were dead.  He, as the wagon-drivers had
+sworn, had been thrown out of the wagon for dead, but some of his men
+came along soon after, and seeing him lying in the snow dismounted to
+see if he were alive.  Finding that his heart was beating, they set to
+work and restored him to consciousness, and then took him on to
+Smolensk, whence he sent back to enquire after his wife and child.  The
+message that was brought to him was that his wife and child had been
+murdered on the road.  Believing this to be true, he went on with his
+regiment--before they arrived at Smolensk--with henceforth only one aim
+in life--to avenge Poland's wrongs.
+
+The story of Captain Ladoinski's extraordinary rescue of his own wife
+and child created some excitement among Napoleon's soldiers, dispirited
+though they were by the terrible march they had undergone, and numerous
+and hearty were the congratulations which husband and wife received.
+Prince Eugène was one of the first to congratulate them, and Captain
+Ladoinski seized the opportunity to express his deep gratitude to the
+prince for the kindness he had shown to his wife in her sorrow, a
+kindness that was all the more creditable because Prince Eugène knew
+that Madame Ladoinski was a member of a Royalist family and an enemy of
+the Napoleonic dynasty.  For some considerable time after the terrible
+retreat from Moscow, Captain Ladoinski fought in Prince Eugène's army,
+but when, at last, the Prince's military career came to an end he
+retired into private life.  He had long since come to the conclusion
+that his wife was right when she said that Napoleon never had any
+intention of setting Poland free, but had obtained the services of the
+brave Poles under false pretences.
+
+Madame Ladoinski deserved years of happy domestic life after her
+fearful experiences with the French army, and it is pleasant to be able
+to say that she had them.  Until death parted them, many years later,
+she and her husband enjoyed the happiness of a quiet life unclouded by
+domestic or political troubles.
+
+
+
+
+LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY
+
+'Fighting Bob' was the nickname affectionately bestowed upon Sir Robert
+Sale by his comrades-in-arms.  Truly the name was well deserved, for
+wherever the fight was thickest there Sale was to be found, and the
+histories of his life abound with stories of his bravery and disregard
+of danger.
+
+When twenty-seven years of age he married Florentia Wynch, a girl of
+nineteen, who proved before long to be almost as brave as he.
+Throughout his life she was his companion in danger, and many times
+nursed him back to health when seriously wounded.  Adventures such as
+are rarely encountered by women were continually falling to her lot,
+but the greatest hardships which she was compelled to undergo were
+those attending the British retreat from Kabul in January, 1842.
+
+Discontent with British rule had led to rebellion in Afghanistan, and
+Sir Robert Sale was sent with a brigade to clear the passes to
+Jelalabad.  Lady Sale remained at Kabul, where the signs of discontent
+became daily more evident.  The British native troops were
+disheartened, and eventually it was decided to retreat from the city.
+
+At half-past nine in the morning of January 6, 1842, the British force,
+consisting of about 4500 soldiers, mostly native, and 12,000 followers,
+quitted Kabul.  The snow lay a foot deep on the ground, and the
+thermometer registered several degrees below freezing-point.  The
+bullocks had great difficulty in dragging the guns, and it took two
+hours and a half to cover the first mile.  This slow rate of progress
+was not, however, entirely due to the state of the weather, as some of
+the delay was caused by a bridge of boats having to be made across the
+Kabul river, which lay about half a mile from the city.  The camp
+followers refused to cross by any means but a bridge, but Lady Sale and
+her daughter, Mrs. Sturt, rode through with the horsemen.  Immediately
+they reached the opposite bank their clothes froze stiff, and they
+could not change them for others, for as the rear-guard quitted the
+city the Afghans fired upon them and captured, without meeting any
+resistance, nearly the whole of the baggage, commissariat and
+ammunition.  That night the British force, cold, hungry and dispirited,
+slept in the snow.  There were no tents, but an officer erected a small
+pall over the hole in the snow where Lady Sale and her daughter lay.
+
+At half-past seven on the following morning the march was resumed, but
+the force had not proceeded far when a party of Afghans sallied out
+from a small fort and carried off three guns.  The British fought
+bravely, but the sepoys made scarcely any resistance, and hundreds of
+them fled for their lives.
+
+As the British force advanced they saw the Afghans gathering in
+strength on either side, and before they had gone five miles they were
+compelled to spike and abandon two six-pounders, the horses not having
+sufficient strength to drag them.  They were now in possession of only
+two guns and very little ammunition.
+
+Men, hungry and numbed with cold, dropped out of the ranks, to be left
+to die from starvation, or to be massacred by the enemy.  Another night
+was spent in the open, and when daylight came there were many frozen
+corpses lying on the ground.  The troops were now utterly disorganised,
+and the Afghans continued to harass them, both while bivouacing and on
+the march.  It was a terrible time, but Lady Sale was calm, and
+endeavoured to instil with courage other women of the party.  Soon the
+British arrived at a spot where, some time previously, Sir Robert Sale
+had been wounded, and there a fierce attack was made upon them.  A ball
+entered Lady Sales' arm, her clothes were riddled with bullets, and her
+escape seemed impossible, so fierce was the fire of the enemy, who were
+in a strong position about fifty yards distant.  Nevertheless she did
+escape, but only to find that her daughter's husband, Lieutenant Sturt,
+had been mortally wounded.  Five hundred soldiers and two thousand five
+hundred camp followers were killed, and many women and children were
+carried off by the Afghans.  Others lay dying in the fast-falling snow.
+
+Lady Sale and her daughter were in great distress at the death of
+Lieutenant Sturt, and took little interest in the proposal that all the
+women should be placed under the protection of Mahommed Akbar Khan, who
+had suggested this step.  However, with the other women, they accepted
+the proffered protection, and were taken to a fort in the Khurd Kabul,
+and eventually they heard that the force with which they had quitted
+Kabul had been annihilated.
+
+On January 17, Lady Sale and her companions, among whom were now
+several British officers whom Mahommed Akbar Khan had captured, arrived
+at Badiabad, where, in a small mud fort the party, consisting of 9
+women, 20 men and 14 children, were kept prisoners.  However, they were
+not molested, and as food of a kind was supplied to them, they did not
+complain.  Their uncomfortable surroundings were, however, made more
+unpleasant by a series of earthquakes.
+
+On February 19, Lady Sale was spreading some clothes out to dry on the
+flat roof of the fort, when a terrible shock occurred, causing the
+place to collapse.  Lady Sale fell with the building, but rose from the
+ruins unhurt.  Even the wounds received by her on the day Lieutenant
+Sturt was killed were not aggravated by the accident.  Before dark that
+day there were twenty-five distinct shocks, and about fifteen more
+during the night.  For some weeks after this they were constantly
+occurring.  At one spot, not far away, 120 Afghans and 20 Hindus were
+buried in the ruins of buildings shaken to the ground.
+
+During her captivity Lady Sale had been able to write letters to her
+husband, who was shut up with his garrison in Jelalabad, and her great
+desire was that he should be able to hold the place until relief
+arrived.  On March 15 a rumour reached her that it had been captured by
+the Afghans, but to her great delight she heard later that the rumour
+was false.  She was exceedingly proud of her husband, and gloried in
+his successes.  A successful defence of the city would, she knew, add
+considerably to his reputation.  During the following five months Lady
+Sale and her daughter were continually being moved from one place to
+another, and before long it became clear to them that the Afghan
+rebellion was being rapidly quelled.  Rumours of British victories
+reached them, and the man who was in charge of them, while moving from
+place to place, made it understood that for Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 1000 a
+month for life he would effect their escape.
+
+But soon, on September 15, the good news was received that the British
+were coming to their rescue, and, guided by the bribed Afghan, Lady
+Sale and her companions moved off secretly to meet them.  Two days
+later they arrived at the foot of the Kalu Pass, where they met Sir
+Richmond Shakespeare, with 600 native horsemen, coming to their rescue.
+
+Lady Sale was naturally anxious to hear of her husband's doings, and
+Sir Richmond Shakespeare was able to make her happy by telling her of
+how gallantly he had defended Jelalabad.  Soon, however, she heard from
+his own lips the story of his defence.  On September 19, a horseman
+arrived with a message from Sir Robert Sale, saying that he was
+advancing with a brigade.  Lady Sale had been feeling weak for several
+days, but the news of her husband's approach gave her fresh strength.
+
+'It is impossible to express our feelings on Sale's approach,' she
+wrote in her diary.  'To my daughter and myself happiness so long
+delayed as to be almost unexpected was actually painful, and
+accompanied by a choking sensation which could not obtain the relief of
+tears.'
+
+The men loudly cheered Lady Sale and her daughter, and pressed forward
+to express their hearty congratulations at their escape.  'And then,'
+Lady Sale continued in her diary, 'my highly-wrought feelings found the
+desired relief; and I could scarcely speak to thank the soldiers for
+their sympathy, whilst the long withheld tears now found their course.
+On arriving at the camp, Captain Backhouse fired a royal salute from
+his mountain train guns; and not only our old friends, but all the
+officers in the party, came to offer congratulations and welcome our
+return from captivity.'
+
+After a visit to England, Sir Robert and Lady Sale returned to India in
+March, 1844.  Towards the end of the following year the Sikh War broke
+out, and at the battle of Mudki, fought on December 18, Sir Robert's
+left thigh was shattered by a grape shot, and he died three days later.
+
+Lady Sale continued to reside in India after her husband's death, her
+comfort secured by a pension of £500 a year, granted to her by Queen
+Victoria, as a mark of approbation of her own and Sir Robert's conduct.
+She died at Cape Town, which she was visiting for the benefit of her
+health, on July 6, 1853, aged sixty-three.
+
+
+
+
+ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD,
+
+AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR
+
+Until late in the last century it was a common thing for the ruler of a
+native Eastern state to celebrate his accession to the throne by
+slaughtering his brothers and uncles.  This drastic measure reduced the
+possibilities of the new ruler being deposed, and was considered by the
+majority of the natives a wise precaution.  The Maharajah of Manipur
+was more humane than many rulers, and although he had seven brothers,
+he refrained from killing any of them.
+
+For several years the brothers lived on friendly terms with each other,
+but eventually quarrels arose through two of them wanting to marry the
+same woman.  The eight brothers divided into two parties, and
+quarrelled so incessantly, that the maharajah deemed it wise to
+abdicate and leave the country.  Mr. Grimwood the British Political
+Agent, did his utmost to dissuade the  maharajah from abdicating, but
+without success.  He departed, and one of his brothers became ruler.
+
+Mr. Grimwood and his wife had lived for three years in Manipur when the
+maharajah abdicated, and during that time the natives had always been
+friendly towards them.  Even the royal brothers, while quarrelling
+among themselves, maintained their usual friendly relations with them.
+
+Manipur is an out-of-the-way place, lying in the heart of the
+mountainous region, which is bordered on the north by the Assam Valley,
+on the east and south by Burma, and on the west by the Cachar district.
+During the greater portion of their stay in Manipur Mr. and Mrs.
+Grimwood were the only white people in the place, and consequently the
+news that the Chief Commissioner was on his way to hold a durbar at the
+Residency afforded them much pleasure.  But the information that his
+excellency was accompanied by 400 men of the 42nd and 44th Ghurkhas,
+made it clear that some political event of considerable importance was
+about to take place.  The Chief Commissioner had, in fact, decided to
+arrest the jubraj, the maharajah's brother, at the durbar which was
+fixed for eight o'clock in the morning of March 23, 1891.
+
+But the jubraj had his suspicions aroused by the military force which
+accompanied the Chief Commissioner.  He did not attend the durbar, but
+sent a message to say that he was too unwell to be present.  Four hours
+later, Mr. Grimwood was sent to the palace to inform the jubraj that he
+was to be arrested and banished, and to persuade him to surrender
+peacefully.  This the jubraj refused to do, and consequently it was
+decided to storm the palace and capture him.
+
+Fighting began on the following day, shortly before daybreak.  The
+palace walls, some sixty yards from the Residency, and separated from
+it by an unfordable moat, were loop-holed, and soon a fierce fire was
+opened on the attackers.  Mrs. Grimwood sought shelter in the little
+telegraph office, but bullets were soon crashing through it, and her
+position was one of extreme danger, but after the first fright she
+settled down to help the doctor attend to the wounded.
+
+The British attack on the palace was not, however, successful, and the
+Manipuris crept round to the back of the Residency, and made an attack
+upon it.  They were beaten off, but the British force was soon in a
+critical position; for, shortly after 4 o'clock, some big guns opened
+fire on the Residency, where the whole of the force was now
+concentrated.  Mrs. Grimwood states in her book, _My Three Years in
+Manipur_, that the first shell fired at the Residency made her
+speechless with fear; but others who were present state that a few
+minutes later she was hard at work attending to the wounded under fire.
+The cellars under the Residency were used as a hospital, and terrible
+were the sights which the brave woman witnessed.  Every hour the
+position of the British became more desperate.  Men were falling
+quickly, and the ammunition was running out.
+
+At last a message was sent to the jubraj asking on what conditions he
+would cease firing on the Residency.  His reply was to the effect that
+the British must surrender unconditionally.  Finding that the British
+would not agree to this, he sent word that if the Chief Commissioner
+would come to the palace gates he would discuss terms with him.  His
+excellency and Mr. Grimwood went forward, but as they reached the gates
+they were pushed inside the palace enclosure, and the gates closed
+behind them.  Then the Manipuris shouted that the white men were
+prisoners, and again opened fire on the Residency.  The British troops
+replied, but their position was now critical.  Very little ammunition
+remained, and shells were bursting over the Residency.  One burst near
+to Mrs. Grimwood's feet, but fortunately she only received a slight
+wound in the arm.
+
+At midnight the British officers decided to evacuate the Residency and
+retreat to Cachar.
+
+Mrs. Grimwood being the only person who knew the way to the Cachar
+road, acted as guide, and led the retreating force through hedges, over
+mud walls, and across a river.  Looking back when they had gone four
+miles, Mrs. Grimwood saw that the Residency, her home for three happy
+years, was in flames.  Her husband a prisoner, and her home destroyed,
+it would not have been surprising if Mrs. Grimwood had been too
+grief-stricken to continue the journey on foot.  But she plodded on
+bravely in her thin house-shoes, and with her clothes heavy with water.
+Sometimes the hills were so steep that she had to climb them on hands
+and knees, but she never complained, and did not hamper the progress of
+the force.  Not until twenty miles had been covered did she have a
+rest, and then, thoroughly exhausted, she wrapped herself in the
+overcoats which the officers lent her, and lay down and slept.
+
+A few hours later the retreating force, hungry, tired and somewhat
+dispirited, resumed its march.  Mrs. Grimwood's feet were cut and sore,
+but she tramped on bravely in the military boots which had been given
+her to replace her thin worn-out shoes.  They had now travelled beyond
+the country with which Mrs. Grimwood was familiar, and no one knew the
+way.  They pushed on in the direction which they believed to be the
+right one, but without being able to obtain anything to eat.  When,
+however, they had been two days without food, they came suddenly upon
+some Manipuri soldiers cooking rice.  The Manipuris, taken by surprise,
+fled quickly, leaving their rice to fall into the hands of the starving
+British force.
+
+Refreshed by the meal which they had so unexpectedly obtained, the
+British resumed their journey, but they had not gone far when they
+found a stockade barring their way.  The defenders opened fire on them
+at once, and as the British had no ammunition they rushed the stockade,
+causing the Manipuris to run for their lives.
+
+The British officers now decided to remain for a time in the captured
+stockade, but soon a large body of men was seen advancing towards it.
+Were they Ghurkhas or Manipuris?  No one could tell, and reliance could
+not be placed on a bugle call, as both Ghurkhas and Manipuris had the
+same one.  It was believed by the majority that the advancing men were
+Manipuris, and one of the officers told Mrs. Grimwood that he had two
+cartridges left, one for her and one for himself, if the men proved to
+be the enemy.
+
+But they were not the enemy.  A sharp-eyed man discovered a white
+officer among the advancing soldiers, and this was ample proof that
+they were Ghurkhas.  A cheer from the stockade was answered by one from
+the approaching men, who were proceeding to Manipur, but had only heard
+a few hours before of the retreat of their comrades-in-arms.  They had
+plenty of provisions with them, and quickly gave the tired, hungry men
+a good meal.
+
+The remainder of the journey to the frontier was made in comparative
+comfort, but Mrs. Grimwood's trials were not yet ended.  Soon the sad
+news of her husband's death was broken to her.  He and his fellow
+prisoner had been executed with horrible brutality by order of the
+jubraj.
+
+The story of Mrs. Grimwood's heroism in attending to the wounded under
+fire, and her bravery during the long and trying retreat, aroused
+admiration throughout the civilized world.  In consideration of her
+exceptional services, the Secretary of State for India in Council
+awarded her a pension of £140 a year, and a special grant of £1000.
+The Princess of Wales--our present Queen--was exceedingly kind to her,
+and Queen Victoria invited her to Windsor Castle, and decorated her
+with the well-deserved Red Cross.
+
+
+
+
+THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA
+
+In December, 1880, a detachment of the 2nd Connaught Rangers was
+escorting a wagon-train, nearly a mile in length, from Leydenberg to
+Pretoria.  Until more than half the journey had been travelled the
+Boers, whom the British met on the way, had shown no disposition to be
+unfriendly, but, one morning, as the convoy slowly wended its way up a
+hill, studded with clumps of trees, a strong force of Boers jumped out
+from their places of concealment and called upon the British to
+surrender.  They sent forward, under a flag of truce, a written demand
+to that effect, but, seeing that the British officer in command had no
+intention to order his men to lay down their arms, they treacherously
+disregarded the white flag that was flying, and opened fire upon the
+convoy.
+
+The British were caught in an ambush, and the Boers, who greatly
+outnumbered them, wrought terrible havoc.  The Boers were concealed
+behind trees and stones, but the British could obtain scarcely any
+cover.  Their colonel was mortally wounded early in the fight, and soon
+there was only one officer unhurt.
+
+When the attack on the convoy began there were three women in one of
+the wagons.  Mrs. Marion Smith, widow of the late bandmaster, was
+travelling down country, with her two children, to sail on a troopship
+for England.  The other two women were Mrs. Fox, wife of the
+sergeant-major, and Mrs. Maistre, wife of the orderly-room clerk.
+Scarcely had the massacre begun when Mrs. Fox received a bullet wound
+as she sat in the wagon, and fell backwards, badly hurt.
+
+Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre were naturally alarmed at finding
+themselves suddenly in a position of such great danger.  But they were
+soldiers' wives, and soon all fear vanished, and having made Mrs.
+Smith's children comparatively safe in a corner of the wagon they
+stepped out to render aid to the wounded.  It was a terrible sight for
+them.  The ground was strewn with dead and dying, and nearly every face
+was familiar to them.  Regardless of the bullets that whizzed past
+them--one grazed Mrs. Smith's ear they tore up sheets to make bandages,
+and passing from one wounded man to another, stanched the flow of blood
+and bound the wounds.
+
+At last, when it became clear to the mortally wounded colonel that the
+annihilation of his force would be the result of a continuation of the
+fight, the 'Cease fire' was sounded, and the outnumbered British
+delivered up their arms.
+
+The soldiers' work was finished; Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre had still
+much to do.  On the battle-field the wounded lay thick, and for hours
+the two brave women worked at their self-appointed task.  Many a dying
+lad had his last minutes made happy by their kindly words and actions.
+
+From December 20 until March 31, 1881, the three women remained
+prisoners in the hands of the Boers.  They might, had they cared to do
+so, have led lives of idleness during their imprisonment, but, instead,
+they were busy from morning until night nursing the wounded.  Mrs.
+Fox's courage was indeed wonderful, for the wound she had received in
+the attack was very serious, and the doctors had told her that she
+could not expect to live long.  Her husband, too, had been severely
+wounded early in the fight, but nevertheless she was as indefatigable
+as Mrs. Maistre and Mrs. Smith in doing good.  The three women were
+adored by the wounded soldiers, for whom they wrote letters home,
+prepared dainty food, and read.
+
+When peace was declared the three brave women returned to England, and
+Mrs. Smith was decorated with the medal of the Order of St. John of
+Jerusalem.  She was reported, in the application that was made on her
+behalf, to have been 'unremitting in her attention to the wounded and
+dying soldiers during the action, and that her conduct while living
+under canvas was beyond all praise.  She did the utmost to relieve the
+sufferings of the men in hospital, and soothed the last moments of many
+a poor soldier, while sharing their privations to the full.'
+
+After a time Mrs. Smith's whereabouts became unknown to the
+authorities; they did not in fact know whether she were alive, and
+consequently she was not recommended for the Red Cross.  Mrs. Fox and
+Mrs. Maistre received the coveted decoration, but the former did not
+long survive the honour.  She died in January, 1888, at Cambridge
+Barracks, Portsmouth, and in making her death known to the regiment the
+colonel said:--'Mrs. Fox died a soldier's death, as her fatal illness
+was the result of a wound received in action, and aggravated in
+consequence of her noble self-devotion afterwards.'
+
+The Commander-in-Chief--H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge--ordered that
+military honours should be paid to the dead woman.  It was a very
+unusual thing, but the honour was well-merited, and crowds lined the
+streets to see the coffin borne past on a gun carriage.  Over the
+coffin was laid a Union Jack, and on this was placed the brave woman's
+Red Cross.  The men who bore her from the gun carriage to her grave in
+Southsea Cemetery were six non-commissioned officers who had been
+wounded in the fight of December 20, 1880, and whom she had nursed.
+
+
+
+* It is interesting to note that the publication of this volume quickly
+led to Mrs. Smith (now Mrs. Jeffreys) being traced; and, in response to
+an appeal to the War office, the authorities awarded the heroine the
+coveted decoration of the Royal Red Cross.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
+
+
+
+ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE
+
+'The Indians are coming!'
+
+It was on September 1, 1782, that a scout employed to watch the
+movements of the Red Indians rushed into the West Virginian village of
+Wheeling, shouting the dreaded warning of the savages' approach.
+Instantly the inhabitants took refuge in the fort, and prepared to
+offer a determined resistance.  The fort had no regular garrison, it
+being the duty of the settlers to defend it.  Colonel Silas Zane took
+command, and felt confident that, although he had only twenty men under
+him, he would be able to beat off the savages.
+
+The Governor of Wheeling was Colonel Ebenezer Zane, and with two white
+men he decided to remain in his private residence, which was about
+forty yards from the fort, to prevent the ammunition which was stored
+there from falling into the hands of the Indians.  The scout who had
+brought the news of the Indians' approach was soon followed by the
+savages themselves, who, brandishing their tomahawks and waving their
+scalping-knives, instantly demanded the surrender of the white men.
+The reply they received was a volley fired at the standard which they
+bore aloft.  With a terrible war-whoop the Indians rushed to the
+assault, but the men in the fort and in the house were good shots, and
+it was rarely that one of them missed his mark.  Happily, there was a
+good stock of arms in both strongholds, and taking advantage of this,
+the women loaded the muskets and handed them to the men, who were thus
+enabled to fire quickly and were spared the fatigue of loading.
+
+Again and again the Indians attacked the house and the fort, but on
+every occasion they were driven back.  When darkness came on the
+attacks ceased, but the white men did not grow less vigilant, for they
+were confident that before daybreak the savages would make an attempt
+to surprise them.  And this proved to be the case.  In the dead of
+night one of the defenders espied an Indian crawling towards the house.
+He watched him until he rose to his feet and kindling a torch that he
+carried, attempted to set fire to the building.  Then the watcher
+fired, and the Indian dropping his torch fled, wounded.
+
+At daybreak it was seen that the Indians were still surrounding the
+fort and the house, and that they were evidently unusually excited.
+Could they have captured any of the defenders?  Enquiries shouted from
+the fort to the house elicited the assurance that no one was missing.
+
+Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion at the spot when the Indians
+were thickest, and the surprised white men could see that several of
+the enemy had been killed and many injured.  The explosion was caused
+in this way: On the preceding evening, after the firing had ceased,
+some of the Indians surprised a boat ascending the river with cannon
+balls for the fort.  The boatman escaped, but the cannon balls fell
+into the hands of the Indians, who believed that all they now wanted to
+demolish the house and fort was a cannon.  Therefore they decided to
+make one.  They procured a log of wood, bound it tightly with chains,
+and then made a hole in it large enough to admit the ball.  Then they
+charged it heavily, and when it was pointed towards the fort the match
+was applied.  Instantly the cannon burst, killing many of the men who
+stood near and injuring others.
+
+This accident did not, as one might suppose, dishearten the Indians.
+On the contrary, it excited them to further efforts to capture the
+whites.  Maddened with excitement they rushed boldly forward to the
+attack, but the steady, deadly fire which the defenders maintained
+drove them back time after time.
+
+But now the defenders in the fort began to get anxious, for their stock
+of gunpowder was nearly exhausted.  There was a plentiful supply at the
+house, and someone would have to undertake the perilous task of running
+to it and returning under fire with a keg of powder.  There were plenty
+of volunteers for this dangerous undertaking, but among them was a
+woman--Elizabeth Zane, the youngest sister of the two Colonels Zane.
+She had been educated in Philadelphia, and until her arrival at
+Wheeling, a few weeks previously, had experienced none of the hardships
+of frontier life.  But now, in the hour of danger, she was brave as if
+she had been brought up in the midst of stirring scenes.
+
+It was pointed out to her that a man would run less risk than she, from
+the fact of his being able to run faster; but she answered that if he
+were shot in the act, his loss would be severely felt.  'You have not
+one man to spare, she declared.  'A woman will not be missed in the
+defence of the fort.'
+
+The men did not like the idea of allowing her to run so great a risk,
+but she overcame their objections, and started on her perilous journey.
+
+The moment the gate was opened she bounded through, and ran at full
+speed towards the house.  Surprised at her sudden appearance in the
+open, the Indians seized their muskets, but quickly recognizing that
+she was a woman they exclaimed, 'Only a squaw,' and did not fire.
+
+Arriving at the house she announced to Colonel Ebenezer Zane the object
+of her journey, whereupon he fastened a table-cloth around her waist,
+and emptied a keg of powder into it.
+
+The moment that she appeared again in the open, the Indians noticed the
+table-cloth around her waist, and, guessing at once that she was
+carrying to the fort something that was necessary for its defence;
+promptly opened fire on her.  Undeterred by the bullets which whizzed
+past her Elizabeth Zane ran quickly towards the fort; and reached it in
+safety.  It is needless to say that the brave young woman received an
+enthusiastic greeting from the garrison who had witnessed with
+admiration her daring act.
+
+The defenders of the fort, their stock of ammunition replenished,
+fought with renewed confidence when the Indians again attacked, and
+repulsed them with a deadly fire.  As time went on the assaults became
+less frequent, and on the third night they finally ceased.  The task of
+massacring the settlers of Wheeling had, contrary to the Indians'
+expectation, been too formidable for them, and therefore they raised
+the siege and crept quietly away by night.  Their losses had been
+great, but during the three days' fighting the casualties of the
+defenders were only two men wounded.
+
+
+
+
+NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED
+
+In the tiny cabin of a canal-boat which had but recently started on its
+long journey from the Midlands to London, lay a woman seriously ill.
+And by her side lay her two days' old baby.  Her husband was on deck
+steering the boat, but every few minutes he hurried down to see if
+there were anything he could do to make his wife comfortable.  He could
+do but little, however.
+
+Never before had he felt so helpless; never had he experienced so
+acutely the isolation of barge-life.  The district through which he was
+travelling was thinly populated, and to obtain a doctor the bargeman
+would have to trudge some miles across country, leaving his wife alone
+on the canal.  He could not leave her unattended, and consoled himself
+with the hope that before long he would meet someone whom he could send
+for a doctor.  But he was disappointed; he met no one.
+
+At last he arrived at Stoke Bruerne, in Northamptonshire, and, having
+tied up his barge, hurried to the post-office--a little general shop
+kept by Mrs. Nellie Amos, who was well-known to the canal boatmen.  He
+told her of his wife's illness, and asked her if she would be good
+enough to come to his barge and see if she could discover the nature of
+her illness.  Without the slightest hesitation Mrs. Amos accompanied
+the man to his barge, and found his wife very feverish.
+
+Mrs. Amos could not discover what was the matter with the invalid, but
+one thing was very plain to her--the poor woman could not be expected
+to get well in her present quarters.  The cabin was low-roofed, about
+eight feet by six in size, and near the door stood the stove in which
+the meals were cooked.  In such close quarters the sick woman had
+little chance of recovery, and Mrs. Amos did not conceal this fact from
+the husband.  She told him also that if a doctor would certify that she
+could be removed with safety, she would take her to her house and nurse
+her and the baby.  As soon as the bargeman hurried away to fetch a
+doctor, Mrs. Amos made the sick woman some beef-tea, tidied the bed,
+and took charge of the baby.
+
+The doctor was soon with the patient, and, having examined her, gave
+his permission for her removal to Mrs. Amos's house, to which she was
+quickly taken.  Mrs. Amos had a husband and six children, and her house
+was a small one; but nevertheless she was able to give the mother and
+baby a comfortable room.  Day after day she nursed them tenderly, but
+to her surprise the mother did not show any signs of improvement.  The
+doctor came regularly to see her, and one day, when he had been
+attending her for about a week, he announced that she was suffering
+from small-pox.
+
+For a few minutes Mrs. Amos was overcome with horror at the danger to
+which she had unintentionally subjected her six children.  Nearly all
+of them had nursed the baby and waited on the sick woman, and it seemed
+to her certain that they would be stricken down with the disease.  It
+would probably spread through the village, and she would be the cause
+of the sorrow that would ensue.
+
+These fears she soon overcame, and bravely faced the danger.  She
+declared that she would not have the poor creature removed from the
+house unless the doctor insisted upon it, and that she would continue
+to nurse her.  The patient was allowed to remain, but steps were, of
+course, taken to guard against the disease spreading.  The shop was
+closed, and Mrs. Amos's only means of earning a living was gone, at any
+rate for a time.  Her children were sent away, and watched carefully
+for any signs of the disease appearing in them.  Anxiety concerning her
+own family and the loss occasioned by the suspension of her business
+might well have made her willing to hand over to the local medical
+authorities the innocent cause of her trouble.  But Mrs. Amos would not
+relinquish her self-imposed duty.  She nursed mother and child as
+tenderly as if they had been her relatives, and if it had been possible
+to save their lives they would have been saved.  The child died, and a
+week later the woman herself passed away.  Happily, neither Mrs. Amos
+nor any of her children contracted the disease.
+
+'I prayed earnestly that God would spare the village,' Mrs. Amos told
+the writer of this book, 'and He did.  Not one case resulted from it.'
+
+It was some time before the little shop was re-opened, but many people,
+hearing of Mrs. Amos's bravery, came forward to help her tide over her
+difficulties.  The landlord set a good example by sending her a receipt
+for rent which she had been unable to pay, and several Brentford
+ladies, having been told of her conduct by Mr. R. Bamber, the London
+City missionary to bargemen, presented her with a tea and coffee
+service.
+
+
+
+
+ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED
+
+Anna Gurney was a cripple from her birth.  Unable to walk, and
+consequently debarred nearly all the pleasures of childhood, it would
+not have been surprising had she become a sad, peevish woman.  The fact
+that her parents were rich, and able to supply her with comforts such
+as poor cripples could not receive, may have prevented her from
+becoming depressed, but it must be remembered also that the knowledge
+that they were in a position to give her every reasonable pleasure a
+girl could desire might well have caused her to be continually
+deploring her crippled condition.
+
+She did not, however, brood over her infirmity, and although she was
+never entirely free from pain, she was always bright and happy.
+Intellectually clever, she was ever anxious for self-improvement, and
+her knowledge of languages was remarkable.  No sooner had she become
+thoroughly conversant with one than she began to learn another.
+
+Early in life she became deeply interested in foreign missions, and in
+after years was a generous supporter of them.  Her desire to do good
+was not, however, satisfied by the money she gave to various societies,
+and being unable to offer herself as a missionary to the heathen, she
+found a sphere of usefulness in working to improve the moral and
+spiritual condition of the poor of Cromer.  She invited the mothers to
+her home, North Repps Cottage, and held classes for young men, young
+women and children.  Humble visitors were continually calling to tell
+her of their joys or sorrows, and were never refused admittance.  She
+might be busy in her library or suffering acute pain, but with a bright
+smile she would wheel herself forward in her mechanical chair to greet
+her visitor.
+
+The fishermen along the coast regarded her with reverence, for she was
+their friend, adviser and patron.  For many years she could be seen
+almost daily on the foreshore with a little group of weather-beaten men
+around her.  She knew the dangers and disappointments of their calling,
+and was genuinely delighted whenever she heard that the fleet had
+returned with a good catch.  And when the boats were out and a storm
+sprang up, she was anxious as any fish-wife for their safety.  At her
+own expense she provided a lifeboat and complete apparatus for saving
+life, and, with the thoroughness characteristic of her, she made
+herself at once acquainted with the proper working of it.
+
+Whenever there was a shipwreck, she would be down on the shore giving
+directions for the rescue of the people aboard the vessel.  No matter
+the weather or the hour, she was always on the spot.  Many a time the
+news came to her in the middle of the night that there was a ship in
+distress, and in a few minutes her man was wheeling her quickly down to
+the shore.  The wind might be howling, the rain falling in torrents,
+but this did not deter her from being at her self-appointed post.  When
+she first came out in rough weather, the fishermen begged her to return
+home, but they soon discovered that she was determined to remain.
+
+When the boat had been launched she would remain in the cold, waiting
+anxiously for its return.  Often she was in great pain, but only her
+attendant was aware of this.  To the fisher-folk she would be cheerful,
+and express confidence that her lifeboat would rescue all aboard the
+ship.  And when the lifeboat did return with the rescued people, who
+were sometimes half dead from exposure, there was more self-imposed
+work for her.  She superintended the treatment of the shipwrecked folk,
+and arranged where they were to be taken.  Many were removed to her own
+house, and kept there until they were able to proceed to their homes or
+to London.  So kindly were the rescued people treated, that it became a
+saying along the East Coast, that to be taken care of by Miss Gurney,
+it was worth while being shipwrecked.
+
+Anna Gurney died at Cromer in June, 1857, aged sixty-one.  She was
+buried in Overstrand Churchyard, being carried to her last
+resting-place by fishermen who had known and loved her for many years.
+The news of her death had spread rapidly along the coast, and over a
+thousand fishermen were present at her funeral.  Their sorrow was
+great, and they were not ashamed to show it.
+
+The following lines, written by Anna Gurney on the death of a friend
+whom she dearly loved, might truly have been her own epitaph;--
+
+  Within this frame, by Jesu's grace,
+  High gifts and holy held their place;
+  A noble heart, a mighty mind,
+  Were here in bonds of clay confined.
+
+
+
+
+GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER
+
+There was rejoicing at Redbraes Castle, Berwickshire, in February,
+1676, for Sir Patrick Hume had returned home after seventeen months'
+imprisonment in Stirling Castle.
+
+No one was more delighted at his return than his little ten years' old
+daughter, Grizel, who loved him dearly, and was proud that he had
+suffered imprisonment for conscience sake.  He had been imprisoned as
+'a factious person,' because he refused to contribute to the support of
+the soldiers stationed in the country for the suppression of the
+meetings of the Covenanters.
+
+Grizel was a very intelligent child, and surprised her father by her
+knowledge of the political events of the day, and her detestation of
+the Government.  Some men would have been simply amused at her interest
+in politics, but Sir Patrick saw that she was an exceptionally clever
+child, and told her many things which he would have confided to few of
+her seniors.  One thing that he told her was of his desire to get a
+letter conveyed to his friend Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode, who was
+confined in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for rescuing a minister--his
+brother-in-law--from the hands of the Government's servants.
+
+Grizel at once volunteered to take the letter, and having overcome her
+father's objections to sending her on such a dangerous mission, she
+started on her long journey to Edinburgh, which she reached without
+mishap.
+
+Being at Edinburgh she had now to devise some means of getting into
+Robert Baillie's prison.  For a child of her age to outwit the prison
+officials one would think an impossibility; but she did.  Joanna
+Baillie states that she slipped in, noiselessly and unobserved, behind
+the jailer, and hid in a dark corner until he withdrew, when she
+stepped forward and presented the letter to the astonished prisoner.
+Whether or not this be true, it is a fact that she gained admission to
+the prison, delivered her letter, and escaped with the reply.
+
+Two years later, Sir Patrick Hume was again arrested, and although he
+was neither tried nor told of what he was accused, he was kept in
+prison for fifteen months.  At first he was confined at Edinburgh, but
+afterwards he was removed to Dumbarton Castle.
+
+At both of these places Grizel was allowed to visit him, but the
+authorities never suspected that such a child would be used as a
+political messenger.  In the presence of the jailer she would give Sir
+Patrick news of home.  She showered kisses upon him, and delivered
+loving messages from her mother, sisters, and brothers.  But when the
+jailer had withdrawn she gave her father an account of the movements of
+his political friends, and delivered many important verbal messages,
+which they had entrusted to her.  By her means Sir Patrick was kept
+informed of his friends' actions, and was able to assist them by his
+advice.
+
+On being released from Dumbarton Castle he returned to his home in
+Berwickshire, and for a time led a peaceful life, conscious that the
+Government would have him arrested again if they could find a pretext
+for doing so.
+
+In October, 1683, information was brought to him that his friend,
+Robert Baillie, had been arrested in London, and imprisoned for alleged
+connection with the Rye House Plot.  Sir Patrick's friendship for
+Robert Baillie was well known, and Grizel feared that her father would
+soon be arrested on a similar charge.  Sir Patrick was of the same
+opinion, but the Government did not act with the promptitude he had
+expected.
+
+It was not until nearly a year had elapsed that a lady sent word to him
+that soldiers had arrived at her house, and that she had discovered
+that they were on their way to arrest him.  Instant flight was
+imperative, for there was no place in Redbraes Castle in which he could
+conceal himself from soldiers skilled in searching for enemies of the
+Government.  His wife and Grizel--the only people in the castle who
+knew of his danger--discussed with him the most likely means of
+escaping detection, and finally it was decided that he should hide in
+the family vault in Polwarth Church, which stood about a mile and a
+half from Redbraes Castle.
+
+In the middle of the night Grizel and a carpenter named Winter carried
+bed and bedding to the vault.  It was a weird hiding-place for Sir
+Patrick, as the vault was littered with the skulls and bones of his
+ancestors.  Grizel shuddered at the sight, but she knew that the vault
+was the only place which the soldiers would be unlikely to search.
+
+They arrived at Redbraes Castle confident that they would find Sir
+Patrick there, and great was their surprise when they searched it from
+cellar to turret without finding him.  Even then they would not believe
+that he had escaped them, so they made a second and still more thorough
+search.  Every cottage, stable, and shed in the neighbourhood of the
+castle was searched, but no one examined the vaults in Polwarth Church.
+
+Sir Patrick Hume was safe from discovery in his gruesome hiding-place,
+but he could not live without food, and the difficulty was to convey it
+to him without being detected.
+
+This dangerous task Grizel, now nineteen years of age, undertook, and
+every night, when all in the castle but herself were asleep, she crept
+out with a stock of provisions for her father, and trudged the mile and
+a half of country which lay between the castle and Polwarth Church.
+
+It was a trying journey for Grizel, for not only had she to fear being
+seen by the soldiers, or some villager out late on poaching bent, but
+she believed implicitly in ghosts--as did the majority of people in
+those days.  Frequently she was startled by the cry of a bird aroused
+by her footsteps, and on several occasions a dog detected her, and
+barked furiously.
+
+It can easily be understood that Grizel's visits were a great comfort
+to Sir Patrick, for she was the only person who ventured to go to him.
+She would spread out on the little table in the vault the provisions
+which she had brought him, and while he ate his supper she amused him
+by humorously relating the difficulties she met in obtaining them.
+Lady Hume, Winter and herself were the only people who knew that Sir
+Patrick was in the neighbourhood.  Grizel's brothers and sisters and
+the servants believed that he had fled from the country, and Grizel was
+very anxious that they should not be undeceived, for the children might
+unintentionally divulge the secret, and among the servants there were,
+possibly, some who would be ready to earn a reward by betraying their
+master.
+
+But her fear of admitting the children and servants into her secret
+made the task of obtaining provisions exceedingly difficult.  Had they
+seen her taking food into her room, they would at once have suspected
+that it was for her father, and that he was somewhere close at hand.
+The only way in which she could get the food she required for him was
+by slipping some of her dinner from her plate into her lap.  This was
+not an easy thing to do without being detected by some of her brothers
+and sisters, of whom there were many at table, she being the eldest but
+two of eighteen children.  Once she feared that she had been
+discovered.  Her mother had given her a large helping of chicken,
+knowing well that the greater portion of it would be taken that night
+to Sir Patrick.  One of Grizel's younger brothers had noticed the large
+helping she had received, and was somewhat jealous that he had not been
+served as liberally.  A few moments later he glanced again at her
+plate, and saw to his surprise that it was nearly empty.
+
+With a brother's acknowledged right to make personal remarks, he loudly
+called attention to the fact that Grizel had eaten nearly all her big
+helping before anyone else had scarcely started.  Lady Hume promptly
+reprimanded the boy, and ordered him to confine his attention to his
+own plate.  The youngster made no further remarks concerning his
+sister's appetite, but Grizel often found him glancing at her during
+meals, and was in constant fear that he would detect her slipping the
+food into her lap.
+
+After giving her father the day's news of home and political events she
+would start on her return journey, leaving Sir Patrick alone for
+another twenty-four hours in his gruesome hiding-place.  Many men would
+have been driven out of their mind by a month's sojourn in a
+skull-and-bone-littered tomb, but Sir Patrick was a man of high
+spirits, and his daughter never once found him depressed.  During a
+previous imprisonment he had committed to memory Buchanan's translation
+of the Psalms, and he obtained much comfort from repeating them while
+in the Polwarth vault.
+
+One day as he sat at his little table deep in thought he fancied that
+he saw a skull lying on the floor move slightly.  He watched it, and
+saw to his surprise that it was undoubtedly moving.  He was not
+alarmed, but stretching out his cane turned over the skull and startled
+a mouse from underneath it.
+
+Grizel was determined that her father should not remain in the vault
+longer than was absolutely necessary, and with the assistance of the
+trusty Winter was preparing a hiding-place for him at the castle.
+There was a room on the ground floor, the key of which was kept by
+Grizel, and under this they dug a big hole with their bare hands,
+fearing that the sound of a spade, if used, would be heard.  Night
+after night, when all but they two were asleep, they scratched out the
+earth, and placed it on a sheet spread on the floor.  Then, when their
+night's work was done, they silently opened the window and emptied the
+earth into the garden  The hole in the floor they covered by placing a
+bed over it.
+
+At last, when Grizel's finger nails were worn almost completely away,
+the subterranean hiding-place was finished, Winter placing in it a
+large box which he had made for the purpose.  Inside the box was a bed
+and bedding, and fresh air was admitted through holes pierced in the
+lid and sides.  In this box Sir Patrick was to hide whenever the
+soldiers searched the house.
+
+But before telling her father that he could with safety return home
+Grizel examined the underground room daily, to see that it was not
+flooded.  Feeling confident at last that the water would not percolate,
+she told Sir Patrick of the hiding-place prepared for him, and during
+the night he crept back to the castle.
+
+When he had been there a week without anyone but Grizel, her mother,
+and Winter knowing of his presence, the water burst through into the
+subterranean room and flooded the box.  Grizel was for a few minutes
+terror-stricken, for if the soldiers paid another visit to the castle,
+there would be nowhere for her father to hide, and he would be
+captured.  She hurried to him to advise him to return that night to the
+vault; but being an active man he disliked the prospect of prolonged
+idleness, and decided to make an attempt to escape to Holland, where
+many of his political friends had already found safety.
+
+Grizel now set to work to alter her father's clothes, so that he might
+appear to be a man of humble station.  Throughout the day and all
+through the night she plied her needle, but her task was not finished
+when the news reached the castle that Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode had
+been executed at Edinburgh.  Knowing that her father would meet a
+similar fate if captured, she finished his disguise quickly, and urged
+his instant flight.  He acted on her advice, and had not been gone many
+hours before the soldiers arrived and searched the castle thoroughly.
+
+After some narrow escapes from being recognised and arrested Sir
+Patrick arrived at London, and crossed to France, making his way thence
+to Holland.  But before he had been there long he was declared a rebel,
+and his estates confiscated.  Lady Hume and her children were turned
+out of the castle, and found themselves almost penniless.  Grizel and
+her mother, financially assisted by some friends, journeyed to London,
+to petition the Government for an allowance out of the confiscated
+estates, and after much difficulty succeeded in obtaining a paltry
+pittance of £150 a year.
+
+Sir Patrick's hatred of the Stuarts was naturally increased by the
+treatment his wife and children had received at their hands, and he
+threw himself heart and soul into the conspiracy for invading England
+and Scotland.  He took part, under the Duke of Argyle, in the invasion
+of Scotland, and on the failure of the enterprise remained in hiding
+until he found an opportunity to escape to Ireland, and thence to
+Holland _viâ_ France.  Here Lady Hume, Grizel, and all the children but
+one soon joined him.
+
+Sir Patrick had very little money at this time, and Grizel was soon
+sent back to Scotland to attend to some business on his behalf, and
+collect money owing to him.  She was also to bring back with her a
+sister who had been left with friends in Scotland.
+
+Grizel having performed the business entrusted to her, sailed for
+Holland with her sister, but before they had been at sea many hours a
+terrible storm arose, which, of course, considerably prolonged the
+voyage.  This would not have been a great hardship, had the captain
+been an ordinary man.  He happened to be a cowardly bully, and being
+short of food for himself, he forcibly took from Grizel and her sister
+the biscuits which they had brought aboard for their own use.  These he
+ate in their presence.  But this was not the worst.  Grizel had paid
+for a cabin bed for herself and sister, but the captain appropriated
+it, and they were compelled to sleep on the floor.  However, they
+arrived in safety at their destination, and Sir Patrick was exceedingly
+pleased with the way in which Grizel had transacted his business.
+
+The three years and a half which followed were comparatively uneventful
+for the British exiles in Holland.  Grizel devoted herself almost
+entirely to domestic duties, for her father was too poor to keep
+servants, and the only assistance she had was from a little girl who
+was paid to come in daily to wash the plates and dishes.  Every morning
+she rose at six o'clock, and was busy until she retired to bed at
+night.  She washed and dressed the children, assisted her father in
+teaching them, mended their clothes, and performed other duties which
+it would be tedious to enumerate.  The few hours during which she
+managed to be free from domestic duties she devoted to practising music
+and studying French and German.
+
+Grizel was now a beautiful young woman, and her gentle manner and
+sweetness made her a favourite of all with whom she came into contact.
+Two Scotch exiles fell in love with her, but she declined their offers
+of marriage, greatly to the surprise of her father, who did not know
+that she was the promised wife of another man--George Baillie, son of
+his old friend Robert Baillie.  George and Grizel had known each other
+for many years.  George was visiting his father in prison at Edinburgh
+when Grizel, to the surprise of both of them, slipped out from a dark
+corner and delivered her father's letter.
+
+The bravery of the little girl made a lasting impression on the boy,
+and during the troublous years that followed he managed to see her on
+several occasions.  Each liked the other, and their liking changed to
+love long before they were out of their teens.  George's estates had
+been confiscated, and he was serving as a private in the Prince of
+Orange's Guards, where he had for his chum one of Grizel's brothers.
+When off duty he was frequently at the Humes' house, and there, one
+day, Grizel promised to become his wife.  They kept their engagement a
+secret, for Grizel did not wish it to be known until the good days,
+which she was convinced were in store for Great Britain, arrived.
+
+The good days came at last.  The Prince of Orange's troops landed at
+Torbay, and the last of the Stuart kings fled from the land he had
+misruled.  Honours were now conferred upon the men who had suffered at
+the hands of Charles II. and James II.  Sir Patrick Hume had his
+estates restored to him, and was created Lord Polwarth.  Six years
+later he was made Earl of Marchmont and Lord Chancellor of Scotland.
+The queen greatly admired Grizel, and asked her to become one of her
+maids of honour, but she declined the offer, as George Baillie, whose
+estate had been restored to him, wanted her to fulfil her promise.  She
+was quite willing to do so, and they were married on September 17, 1692.
+
+In 1703 Lady Hume died.  On her death-bed she looked at those standing
+around her and asked anxiously 'Where is Grizel?'  Grizel, who had been
+standing back so that her beloved mother should not see her tears, came
+forward at once.  'My dear Grizel,' Lady Hume said, holding her by the
+hand, 'blessed be you above all, for a helpful child you have been to
+me.'
+
+Grizel's married life was exceedingly happy, and lasted for forty-six
+years.  She often declared that during those years she and her husband
+never had the slightest quarrel or misunderstanding.  Throughout her
+married life she was indefatigable in good works for the poor, and she
+continued her kindly deeds after her husband's death.  The rebellion of
+1745 caused much distress in her native land, and her money was given
+freely to the ruined of both parties.  Her own income had been greatly
+reduced, as her impoverished tenants were unable to pay her, and soon
+she found herself pressed for money.  All that she had possessed had
+been given to those in distress, and now, in her eighty-first year, she
+was unable to pay for the common necessaries of life.  She called
+together the tradesmen, whom she had hitherto paid promptly, and told
+them that she was now poor, and would have to remain so until her
+tenants were prosperous enough to pay their rents.  Perhaps they would
+not be in a position to do so during her lifetime, and she left it to
+them, the tradesmen, to decide whether or not they would continue to
+serve her, and run the risk of not being paid.  Unanimously and
+promptly the tradesmen declared that, as heretofore, she should have
+the best of their stock.  Joanna Baillie gives their reply in the
+following lines:--
+
+  No, noble dame! this must not be.
+  With heart as warm and hand as free
+  Still thee and thine we'll serve with pride,
+  As when fair fortune graced your side.
+  The best of all our stores afford
+  Shall daily smoke upon thy board;
+  And should'st thou never clear the score,
+  Heaven, for thy sake, will bless our store.
+
+
+The tradesmen were paid eventually, but not by Lady Grizel Baillie, for
+she died on December 6, 1746, before prosperity came to her tenants.  A
+long life had been given her, and she had spent it nobly exhibiting all
+the good qualities which a woman should possess.
+
+
+
+
+LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE
+
+One morning in the spring of 1638 a large number of people had
+assembled at a Richmond Church to witness the marriage of John
+Hutchinson, eldest son of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, with Lucy Apsley, the
+daughter of Sir Allen Apsley.  The bride, who was only eighteen years
+of age, was, according to her contemporaries, exceedingly beautiful and
+very accomplished; her future husband was learned, well-bred and
+handsome.  Both had a host of friends, and thus it was that a large
+crowd had gathered at the church to witness their marriage.
+
+The time for the bride to arrive at the church had come; but she was
+not there.  Minutes passed, and soon a messenger arrived with the news
+that the marriage would not take place that day.  'But why was it
+postponed?'  This was the question which the disappointed friends
+asked, and the answer was soon forthcoming.
+
+Lucy Apsley had been seized with small-pox on her wedding morning.  In
+those days small-pox was far more feared than it is at the present
+time, and the crowd quickly dispersed, some of the people fearing that
+the messenger who brought the bad news might also have brought the
+dreaded disease.
+
+For some time it was thought that Lucy Apsley would die from the
+complaint, but she recovered.  There were many people, however, who
+declared that it would have been better if she had died, for the once
+beautiful girl was now much disfigured, and the Society gossips
+expressed their confidence that John Hutchinson would never marry her.
+
+It was unjustifiable for these people to talk of John Hutchinson as if
+he were a scoundrel, for he was a manly, honourable, young fellow, and
+quite unlikely to refuse to marry Lucy Apsley because she had lost her
+beauty.  He told her that he was thankful to God for having spared her,
+and urged her to marry him as soon as it was possible.
+
+They were married at St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, on July 3, 1638, the
+bride presenting such a shocking appearance that the clergyman who
+performed the ceremony could not look at her a second time.  It is
+highly satisfactory to be able to say that in the course of time Lucy
+Hutchinson regained some of her beauty; but the contemporary writer's
+statement that she became as beautiful as ever she had been must be
+received with a certain amount of doubt.
+
+However, it is not for her beauty but for her bravery that Lucy
+Hutchinson deserves to be remembered.  When she had spent a few happy
+years of married life, the troubles which ended in the execution of
+Charles I. began.  It was impossible for any man or woman to refrain
+from siding with one or the other party in this momentous struggle, for
+any person who claimed to be neutral would have been suspected by both
+parties.  Lucy Hutchinson's husband was of a studious disposition, and
+had little taste for the frivolities and dissipation in which the
+majority of men of his position indulged, and it is therefore not
+surprising that, when it became necessary to take part in the struggle,
+he determined to espouse the cause of the Parliamentary party.
+
+This step caused Lucy Hutchinson some sorrow, for her brother and many
+other members of her family were fighting for King Charles.  However,
+she felt that it was her duty to hold the same political opinions as
+her husband, and she became a staunch Parliamentarian.
+
+The Cavaliers, hearing that John Hutchinson had proclaimed sympathy
+with the Roundheads, decided to take him prisoner immediately, but
+warning of their intention reached him, and he fled to Leicestershire.
+Lucy joined him at the earliest opportunity, but they had little peace,
+for the Cavaliers were constantly in search of John Hutchinson.
+
+After fleeing from place to place he arrived at Nottingham, soon after
+the battle of Edgehill.  The Cavaliers were on their way to take
+possession of Nottingham, and John Hutchinson and others urged the
+citizens to defend the town.  The militia was organised, and John
+Hutchinson was appointed a lieutenant-colonel.
+
+Lucy Hutchinson was at this time living at their home at Owthorpe, but
+her husband, thinking that she would be safer in Nottingham than alone
+in a neighbourhood which abounded with Royalists, sent a troop of horse
+to remove her by night.  It was an adventurous journey, but was
+accomplished safely.  Finding that the citizens of Nottingham were
+prepared to offer a determined resistance, the Cavaliers did not attack
+the town, but passed on with the intention of returning later to
+capture it.
+
+The citizens of Nottingham, pleased with the energy shown by Colonel
+Hutchinson, elected him Governor of Nottingham Castle.  It was a high
+post for a man only twenty-seven years of age, but Colonel Hutchinson
+soon proved that he was well fitted for it  The castle, although
+standing in an excellent position, was in a dilapidated condition and
+required much strengthening before it could be considered strong enough
+to withstand a determined attack.  The required alterations were
+carried out under Colonel Hutchinson's supervision, and at length all
+that was needed to withstand a siege was a stock of provisions and a
+larger garrison.  These, however, the governor could not obtain.
+
+A period of waiting followed.  Again and again the rumour spread that
+the Cavaliers were approaching to capture the castle, but they did not
+attack it.  Their guns were heard in the distance, but for some reason
+known only to themselves they did not deliver the long-expected
+assault.  Lucy Hutchinson had an unenviable time.  Loving a peaceful,
+domestic life, she was compelled to live in the midst of turmoil.  She
+saw to the feeding of the soldiers, a trying task considering that so
+far the Parliamentary party had allowed her husband nothing whatever
+towards defraying the cost of maintaining the garrison, and that the
+stock of provisions was running low.  Moreover she was often troubled
+concerning the safety of her relatives.  Her eldest brother, Sir Allen
+Apsley, of whom she was exceedingly fond, was fighting gallantly for
+the king, and believing that the Parliamentarians would triumph, she
+feared that if he escaped death on the battle-field, it would only be
+to suffer imprisonment and the confiscation of his estate.
+
+At last, in 1644, the Earl of Newcastle sent a messenger to Colonel
+Hutchinson calling upon him to surrender Nottingham Castle to the
+Royalists, a demand that was promptly refused.  'If his lordship would
+have that poor castle,' the colonel said to the messenger, 'he must
+wade to it in blood.'
+
+The messenger departed, and Colonel Hutchinson made preparations to
+withstand a siege.  Greatly to his surprise, however, the attempt on
+the castle was not made, the Earl of Newcastle having been compelled to
+march his forces to the assistance of Royalists in another part of the
+country.
+
+Before long, however, the citizens of Nottingham veered round to the
+Royalist party, and decided to betray the town.  One night they
+secretly admitted 600 Cavaliers, commanded by Colonel Hutchinson's
+cousin, Sir Richard Byron, and before daybreak the town was in their
+hands.  But not the castle.  With only eighty men, Colonel Hutchinson
+determined to hold it against the enemy until not a man remained alive.
+His force should have been much larger, but many of his men had on the
+previous evening quitted the castle without permission and entered the
+town.  While enjoying themselves the Cavaliers arrived and made them
+prisoners.
+
+Among the Parliamentarians who were taken prisoners in Nottingham were
+the surgeons, and the defenders of the castle entered into the fight
+with the unpleasant belief that if they were wounded there would be no
+one to attend to their wounds.
+
+They were mistaken.  When the battle had been raging for some minutes,
+and the wounded defenders were being removed from further danger, Lucy
+Hutchinson came forward, and skilfully and tenderly dressed their
+wounds.  For five days, attending to the wounded was her chief duty,
+and many a poor fellow's life was saved by her promptitude and skill.
+
+One day, while resting from her labours, she saw three Royalists being
+led away to the dungeon.  They were wounded, and had been captured in
+the latest assault on the castle.  Seeing that they were wounded, Lucy
+Hutchinson at once dressed their injuries, and while thus employed one
+of her husband's officers angrily upbraided her for having pity on
+them, concluding with the assertion that 'his soul abhorred to see this
+favour to the enemies of God.'
+
+'I've done nothing but my duty,' she replied.  'These are our enemies,
+but they are also our fellow-creatures.'
+
+For five days the little band of Roundheads held out against the strong
+force of Cavaliers, and they were fully prepared for a long siege,
+when, to their surprise, they saw the enemy beat a hurried retreat.  In
+a short time they knew the cause.  A strong Parliamentary force was
+advancing to the relief of Nottingham Castle.
+
+For his good defence of the castle, Parliament ratified the appointment
+made by the citizens, and promoted Colonel Hutchinson to be governor of
+the town as well as of the castle.
+
+Unable to obtain the castle by force of arms, the Royalists now tempted
+Colonel Hutchinson, by offering him any terms he might name, if he
+would surrender it and join their party.  These attempts to suborn him
+he ignored, and held the castle for the Parliamentary party until peace
+was declared, and he was able to return with his wife and children to
+his ruined home at Owthorpe.  In the meanwhile, Lucy Hutchinson was
+anxious concerning her brother, Sir Allen Apsley, who had held
+Barnstaple for the king as gallantly as her husband had held Nottingham
+Castle for the Parliament.  He was a marked man, but Colonel Hutchinson
+used his now great influence to obtain immunity from molestation for
+the gallant Cavalier.
+
+Until the death of Cromwell, Lucy Hutchinson and her husband lived very
+happily with their children at their rebuilt Owthorpe home.  But
+immediately after that event troubles began.  The Royalists, hoping to
+bring about a restoration of monarchy, were eager to obtain arms, and
+planned a raid on Owthorpe; but their designs were repeated to Lucy
+Hutchinson by a boy who overheard the conspiracy, and when the robbers
+arrived they were speedily put to flight.
+
+As the prospects of a Restoration became greater, Lucy Hutchinson grew
+alarmed for the safety of her husband, who was one of the men who had
+signed the death-warrant of Charles I.  The friends of the exiled king
+had promised him pardon and preferment if he would become a Royalist,
+but this he had firmly declined to do.
+
+On May 29, 1660, Charles II. was restored to the throne, and little
+mercy could be expected from him by those who had signed his father's
+death-warrant.  Some of Colonel Hutchinson's friends urged him to
+follow Ingoldsby's example, and declare that Cromwell had held his hand
+and compelled him to sign it, but he rejected this advice with the
+greatest indignation.
+
+In a terrible state of anxiety Lucy Hutchinson applied to her brother
+for assistance and advice.  Sir Allen Apsley was naturally in high
+favour at court, where his gallant fight for Charles I. was well known,
+and he was glad of an opportunity to help the brother-in-law who had
+protected him in time of danger.  Moreover, there was another reason
+why he was anxious to help Colonel Hutchinson--he, Sir Allen, had
+recently married his sister.
+
+Sir Allen Apsley worked exceedingly hard to obtain his brother-in-law's
+pardon, and at last he had the joy of telling his sister that her
+husband's name was inserted in the Act of Oblivion, and his estates
+unconditionally freed to him.
+
+Great was Lucy Hutchinson's joy at the pardon of her husband, and she
+looked forward to spending the remainder of their days in peace at
+their beloved Owthorpe.  Alas! this was not to be.  There were many
+Royalists who were highly displeased at Colonel Hutchinson's receiving
+a pardon, and they determined to ruin him.  Very conveniently they
+discovered, or said that they had discovered, a Puritan plot for a
+rising, and that Colonel Hutchinson was one of the conspirators.  As
+far as Colonel Hutchinson was concerned the story was utterly untrue,
+but, nevertheless, on the strength of it, he was arrested for treason,
+carried to London and placed in the Tower.  After ten months in the
+Tower, during which his wife visited him regularly, he was removed to
+Sandown Castle, where, in a damp cell against the walls of which the
+sea washed, he contracted ague.  Lucy Hutchinson implored the governor
+to be permitted to share her husband's prison, but he refused, and
+treated both her and him with brutality.
+
+Sir Allen Apsley, hearing of the treatment accorded to his
+brother-in-law, used his influence to bring about a change in his
+condition, but the alteration came too late, and he died on September
+11, 1664.  Lucy Hutchinson was not present when he died, but the
+message he sent to her was:--'Let her, as she is above other women,
+show herself on this occasion a good Christian, and above the pitch of
+ordinary minds.'
+
+Little is known of Lucy Hutchinson after her husband's death, beyond
+that she soon sold Owthorpe, and that some years later she referred to
+herself as being in adversity.  By adversity she probably referred to
+her widowed state, for it is very unlikely that with many rich
+relatives a woman of simple tastes would be in want of money.  But of
+this we may be sure: that, whether old age found her rich or poor, it
+found her a noble-minded, Christian Englishwoman.
+
+
+
+
+LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION
+
+When Samuel White Baker decided to make an attempt to discover the
+sources of the Nile, his young wife determined to accompany him and
+share his dangers and hardships.  On April 15, 1861, they started from
+Cairo, and after a twenty-six days' journey by boat they disembarked at
+Korosko, and plunged into the dreary desert.  Their camels travelled at
+a rapid pace, but the heat was terrible, and Mrs. Baker was taken
+seriously ill before arriving at Berber.  She was, however,
+sufficiently recovered to accompany her husband when he started off
+along the dry bed of the Atbara, and soon had a novel experience, which
+Baker in _The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia_, describes as follows:--
+
+'At half-past eight I was lying half asleep upon my bed by the margin
+of the river, when I fancied that I heard a rumbling like distant
+thunder.  Hardly had I raised my head to listen more attentively, when
+a confusion of voices arose from the Arabs' camp, with the sound of
+many feet; and in a few minutes they rushed into my camp, shouting to
+my men in the darkness, "El Bahr!  El Bahr!"'[1]  The rolling flood was
+sweeping down the dry bed of the river.  'We were up in an instant.
+Many of the people were asleep on the clean sand in the river's bed;
+these were quickly awakened by the Arabs....  Hardly had they (the
+Arabs) descended, when the sound of the river in the darkness beneath
+told us that the water had arrived; and the men, dripping with wet, had
+just sufficient time to drag their heavy burdens up the bank.  All was
+darkness and confusion.  The river had arrived like "a thief in the
+night."'
+
+When daylight came a mighty river was flowing where yesterday there was
+only dry land.
+
+Proceeding to Kassala, Baker engaged additional camels and attendants,
+and then crossing the Atbara at Korasi proceeded to Sofi, where he
+decided to halt for five months.  Big game abounded, and Baker enjoyed
+excellent sport.  Shooting and studying Arabic occupied nearly all his
+attention, until Mrs. Baker was taken ill with gastric fever.  For a
+time it was not expected that she would recover; but, fortunately, she
+was spared to assist her husband in the arduous labours which followed.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Baker arrived at Khartoum on June 11, 1862, and remained
+there for six months, waiting for the rains to cease, and for the
+northerly winds to set in.  Quitting Khartoum on December 18, 1862,
+they arrived at Gondokoro on February 2, 1863.  Baker was the first
+Englishman to visit the place, and the reception which the
+slave-traders accorded him was far from cordial.  Believing him to be a
+spy of the British Government, they concealed their slaves, and waited
+anxiously for him to depart.  In the meanwhile they made friends with
+his men, sowed discontent amongst them, and succeeded in inciting them
+to make a raid for food on the natives in the next village.
+
+Baker, hearing of the proposed raid, promptly forbade it, whereupon his
+men mutinied.  Seizing the ringleader, Baker proceeded to give him a
+sound thrashing, but was at once attacked by the rest of the men, and
+would certainly have been killed had not Mrs. Baker rushed to the
+rescue.  Her sudden appearance on the scene--for it was known she was
+ill with fever--and her appeals to some of the men to help her save her
+husband caused the mutineers to hesitate.  Instantly Baker saw his
+opportunity.  'Fall in!' he commanded, and so accustomed were the men
+to obeying his orders that the majority fell in instantly.  The
+ringleader and a few others refused to obey, and Baker was about to
+administer another thrashing to the former when his wife besought him
+not to do so.  He acted on her advice, and promised to overlook the
+mutineers' conduct if they apologised, which they promptly and
+profusely did.
+
+The slave-traders now declared that they would not permit the Bakers to
+penetrate into the interior, but, ignoring the threats, husband and
+wife resumed their journey.  Soon they came into contact with a
+well-armed party of these traders, and a fight would have resulted had
+not Mrs. Baker suggested that they should make friends with the leader.
+'Had I been alone,' Baker writes, 'I should have been too proud to have
+sought the friendship of the sullen trader; and the moment on which
+success depended would have been lost....  The fate of the expedition
+was retrieved by Mrs. Baker.'
+
+It was, of course, a trying task for Mr. and Mrs. Baker to be on
+friendly terms with a slave-trader, and they both felt it to be so, but
+it was productive of good.  The slave-trader informed Baker that his
+(Baker's) men intended to mutiny and kill him and his wife.  Baker was
+on his guard, and nipped the mutiny in the bud.
+
+After many hardships and perils borne uncomplainingly by Mrs. Baker,
+they reached the territory of the King of Unyoro, where his majesty's
+brother, M'gambi, was continually asking for presents.  Having received
+a great number from Baker, M'gambi went on to demand that Mrs. Baker
+might be given to him.  'Drawing my revolver quietly, I held it within
+two feet of his chest,' Baker writes, 'and looking at him with
+undisguised contempt, I told him that if I touched the trigger, not all
+the men could save him: and that it he dared to repeat the insult I
+would shoot him on the spot.  At the same time, I explained to him that
+in my country such insolence would entail bloodshed; and I looked upon
+him as an ignorant ox who knew no better; and that this excuse alone
+could save him.  My wife, naturally indignant, had risen from her seat,
+and maddened with the excitement of the moment, she made a little
+speech in Arabic (not a word of which he understood) with a countenance
+almost as amiable as the head of Medusa.  Altogether the
+_mise-en-scène_ utterly astonished him.  The woman, Bacheta, although
+savage, had appropriated the insult to her mistress, and she also
+fearlessly let fly at him, translating as nearly as she could the
+complimentary address that "Medusa" had just delivered.
+
+Whether this little _coup de théâtre_ had so impressed M'gambi with
+British female independence, that he wished to be "off his bargain," I
+cannot say; but, with an air of complete astonishment, he said; "Don't
+be angry!  I had no intention of offending you by asking for your wife;
+I will give you a wife if you want one; and I thought you had no
+objection to give me yours: it is my custom to give my visitors pretty
+wives, and I thought you might exchange.  Don't make a fuss about it;
+if you don't like it, there's an end of it: I will never mention it
+again."  This very practical apology I received very sternly.'
+
+After this interview with M'gambi, the Bakers resumed their journey,
+escorted by 300 local men, whose services Baker soon discovered it
+would be advisable to dispense with.  He was now left with only twelve
+men, and it was doubtful whether he would be able to reach his
+destination and get back to Gondokoro in time to catch the last boat to
+Khartoum that season.  If he failed to do so, it meant another year in
+Central Africa, and he did not wish his wife to endure that.  But Mrs.
+Baker was interested deeply in her husband's work, and urged him not to
+consider her health before accomplishing his task.
+
+A few days later she received a sun-stroke, and for several days lay in
+a litter in an unconscious state.  Brain fever followed, and no one
+believed that she could possibly recover.  A halt was made, and the men
+put a new handle to the pick-axe ready to dig a grave, the site of
+which had been selected.  But the preparations were premature.  Mrs.
+Baker recovered consciousness, and two days later the weary march was
+resumed, to be crowned on March 14, 1864, with success, for on that day
+they saw before them the tremendous sheet of water now well known by
+the name the discoverer gave it, there and then,--the Albert Nyanza.
+
+We can imagine Mrs. Baker's joy on finding that their expedition had
+been crowned with success, and that the perils and hardships which she
+had shared uncomplainingly with her husband had not been endured in
+vain.  It would perhaps have only been natural if she had now urged her
+husband to return to civilisation as quickly as possible, but she did
+not do so.
+
+For thirteen days they explored in canoes the eastern shore of the
+newly-discovered lake, coming at last to the mouth of Somerset or
+Victoria Nile.  Ascending the river they discovered a series of
+cataracts, ending in a magnificent fall.  These Baker named Murchison
+Falls, as a compliment to the President of the Royal Geographical
+Society.  Continuing the journey on foot, they came to a deserted
+village, where they were compelled to remain for two months through the
+treachery of the King of Unyoro.  This dusky potentate had promised
+Baker every assistance that he could give, but having decided to make
+an attack on two neighbouring tribes he asked the Englishman to
+accompany his force and fight for him.  This Baker refused to do, and,
+in revenge, the king sent secret orders to Baker's followers to desert
+him, and leave him and his wife to starve.  In a desolate spot, unable
+to obtain provisions, Mr. and Mrs. Baker existed for two months,
+growing weaker daily from fever and want of proper food.  However,
+after many attempts, Baker managed to obtain an interview with the
+king, and persuaded him to treat them humanely.  The king would not,
+however, allow them to quit his territory, and it was not until
+November, 1864, that they succeeded in escaping.
+
+After many adventures they arrived at Khartoum on May 3, 1865, where
+their arrival created great surprise among the Europeans, who had long
+since been convinced that they were dead.
+
+On reaching England in October, 1865, the Bakers were given an
+enthusiastic reception.  Various learned societies at home and abroad
+bestowed their highest honours upon Baker, and Queen Victoria conferred
+a knighthood upon him.
+
+Mrs. Baker's bravery in accompanying her husband through so many
+dangers was naturally praised by all classes, and it was felt by many
+people that some honour should be conferred upon her.  In Messrs.
+Murray and White's _Sir Samuel Baker: a Memoir_ (Macmillan), it is
+stated that Mr. W. E. Gladstone proposed that a subscription should be
+started for presenting a suitable testimonial to her.  This was,
+however, prior to her becoming Lady Baker, and perhaps it was
+considered that having received an honour the testimonial was
+unnecessary.  At any rate Mr. Gladstone's suggestion was not carried
+out.
+
+In the spring of 1869, Sir Samuel and Lady Baker returned to Africa.
+The Khedive had appointed Sir Samuel Governor-General of the Equatorial
+Nile Basin, to suppress the slave-trade, to develop the natural
+resources of the country, and open the great lakes to navigation.  This
+was a formidable task, and made more difficult by the jealousy of the
+Egyptian authorities, who neglected to give him the support which they
+should have done.
+
+For two years Sir Samuel Baker was busy fighting slave-traders and
+native tribes, and throughout this exciting period he was accompanied
+by his wife, who was subjected to the same dangers as he or any man in
+his force.  At one time she was in great danger of being laid low at
+any moment by bullet or spear.  This was during the retreat from
+Masendi, a position which Sir Samuel Baker was compelled to abandon on
+June 14, 1872.  For eighty miles the little band, composed of about 100
+men, marched in double file through tangled forest and gigantic grass,
+fighting the whole distance.  Bullets whizzed past Lady Baker, and many
+a spear went within an inch of her, but unalarmed she marched on
+_carrying ammunition_.  The enemy hoped to annihilate the party before
+it got clear of the long grass, but the determined men who were
+fighting for their lives discovered the ambuscades and drove out the
+enemy.  Night and day the hidden foe harassed the party, and Lady Baker
+knew that any moment might be her last.  Nevertheless, she trudged on
+with her burden of ammunition, and on some occasions marched sixteen
+miles at a stretch.  It was a weary march through that
+grass-jungle--which harboured hundreds of the enemy--and it seemed that
+it would never end.  To accelerate their retreat, the cattle were
+abandoned and loads of valuable goods were burnt or thrown away.  At
+times it seemed as if they could not possibly escape, and, in fact,
+news reached England that they had been slaughtered during the retreat
+from Masendi.
+
+However, they got through safely, and shortly afterwards inflicted a
+crushing defeat on the enemy.  Lady Baker was present at this battle,
+but although the bullets whizzed to the right, to the left, and above
+her, she escaped injury.  Sir Samuel not only praised her bravery, but
+he wrote of her: 'She has always been my prime minister, to give good
+counsel in moments of difficulty and danger.'
+
+On completion of the four years' service for which the Khedive had
+engaged him, Sir Samuel Baker returned with his wife to England, where
+once more they received an enthusiastic reception.  When they again
+travelled abroad it was in more civilised parts of the world, and
+unattended by the perils which had assailed them in Africa.  Sir Samuel
+Baker died on December 30, 1893, at Sandford Orleigh, near Newton
+Abbot, aged 72.  He was a brave and clever man, but not a little of his
+success was due to the fact that he had a wife who shared his ambition,
+and did all that lay in her power to bring his undertakings to a
+successful issue.
+
+
+
+[1] The river.
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+The Young Girl's Library.
+
+
+TWO GIRLS IN A SIEGE.  A Tale of the Great Civil War.  By EDITH C.
+KENYON, Author of "Queen of Nine Days," etc.  With Three Illustrations
+by J. MACFARLANE.
+
+THE SHEPHERD'S FAIRY.  By the Author of "Mr. Mygale's Hobby."  With
+Three Illustrations.
+
+MISS NETTIE'S GIRLS.  A Story of London East End Life.  By CONSTANCE
+EVELYN.  With Three Illustrations.
+
+
+GWEN'S INFLUENCE.  By FRANCES TOFT, Author of "Uncle Ronald," etc.
+With Three Illustrations by CHARLES HORRELL.
+
+CHRISTIE REDFERN'S TROUBLES.  By MRS. ROBERTSON.  With Three
+Illustrations by E. BARNARD LINTOTT, Author of "The Orphans of Glen
+Elder."
+
+ANGEL'S BROTHER.  By ELEANOR A. STOOKE, Author of "The Bottom of the
+Bread Pan."  With Three Illustrations by W. H. C. GROOME.
+
+
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.  LONDON.
+
+
+
+Popular Stories
+
+By
+
+Well-Known
+
+Writers
+
+
+
+  HESBA STRETTON
+  Mrs. O. F. WALTON
+  EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN
+  AMY LE FEUVRE
+  ETC.  ETC.
+
+
+
+  Issued by
+  The Religious Tract Society
+  4 Bouverie Street and
+  65 St. Paul's Churchyard
+  London, E.C.
+
+
+
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+
+HESBA STRETTON.
+
+
+HALF BROTHERS.  By Hesba Stretton.  With Four Illustrations by Lancelot
+Speed.
+
+CAROLA.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+COBWEBS AND CABLES.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+THROUGH A NEEDLE'S EYE.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+DAVID LLOYD'S LAST WILL.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+THE SOUL OF HONOUR.  By Hesba Stretton.  With Frontispiece.
+
+
+
+UNIFORM EDITIONS OF STORIES
+
+BY
+
+EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN.
+
+
+_Miss Everett-Green has long been known and appreciated as a practised
+and skilled writer, and while many of her tales are specially suited
+for girls, they will also be read with profit and interest by adults.
+The Society is issuing the whole series of her longer stories in a
+uniform style._
+
+
+THE CONSCIENCE OF ROGER TREHERN.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  Illustrated.
+
+JOINT GUARDIANS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+MARCUS STRATFORD'S CHARGE; or, Roy's Temptation.  By Evelyn
+Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+ALWYN RAVENDALE.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by Harold
+Copping.
+
+LENORE ANNANDALE'S STORY.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a
+Frontispiece.
+
+THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+THE MISTRESS OF LYDGATE PRIORY; or, The Story of a Long Life.  By
+Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+THE PERCIVALS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+
+MRS. O. F. WALTON.
+
+AUTHOR OF 'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES.'
+
+
+THE LOST CLUE.  By Mrs. Walton.  With Illustrations by Adolf Thiede.
+
+A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+WAS I RIGHT?  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+DOCTOR FORESTER.  By Mrs. Walton.  With Four Illustrations by Ernest
+Prater.
+
+SCENES IN THE LIFE OF AN OLD ARM-CHAIR.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+OLIVE'S STORY; or, Life at Ravenscliffe.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+
+AMY LE FEUVRE.
+
+
+THE MENDER; A Story of Modern Domestic Life.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+Illustrated.
+
+ODD MADE EVEN.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  Seven Illustrations by Harold
+Copping.
+
+HEATHER'S MISTRESS.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  With Fifteen Illustrations by
+J. S. Crompton.
+
+ON THE EDGE OF THE MOOR.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+THE CARVED CUPBOARD.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+DWELL DEEP; or Hilda Thorn's Life Story.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+ODD.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  Illustrated.
+
+A LITTLE MAID.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+A PUZZLING PAIR.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  With Illustrations by Eveline
+Lance.
+
+
+LONDON; THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+
+The Bouverie Florin Library.
+
+A New Series of Interesting Stories.  Each with Title-page and
+Illustrations in Colour.  Attractively bound.  Large crown 8vo, Cloth
+Gilt, 2s. each.
+
+
+THE AWAKENING OF ANTHONY WEIR.  By SILAS K. HOCKING.  With coloured and
+other illustrations.
+
+IN THE DAYS OF THE GIRONDE.  A Story for Girls.  By THEKLA.  With
+coloured illustrations by W. E. WIGFULL.
+
+MONEY AND THE MAN.  By H. M. WARD.  With coloured illustrations by A.
+TWIDLE.
+
+THE CHARIOTS OF THE LORD: A Romance of the Time of James II. and the
+coming of William of Orange.  With four coloured illustrations by ADOLF
+THIEDE.
+
+A ROSE OF YORK.  By FLORENCE BONE.  With coloured illustrations by
+DUDLEY TENNANT.
+
+THE WONDER CHILD: An Australian Story.  By ETHEL TURNER.  With coloured
+and other illustrations.
+
+FROM PRISON TO PARADISE: A Story of English Peasant Life in 1557.  By
+ALICE LANG.  With coloured and other illustrations.
+
+A HERO IN THE STRIFE.  By LOUISA C. SILKE.  With coloured frontispiece
+by J. FINNEMORE.
+
+ADNAH: A Tale of the Time of Christ.  By J. BRECKENRIDGE ELLIS.  With
+coloured title-page and frontispiece.
+
+LIVING IT OUT.  By H. M. WARD, Author of 'Money and the Man,' etc.
+With three coloured illustrations by W. E. WIGFULL.
+
+THE TROUBLE MAN: or, The Wards of St. James.  By EMILY P. WEAVER.  With
+three coloured illustrations by DUDLEY TENNANT.
+
+THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAIN.  A Stirring Tale of the Franco-German War of
+1870-1871.  By S. R. CROCKETT, Author of 'The White Plumes of Navarre,'
+'The Lilac Sunbonnet,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+THE LOST CLUE.  By Mrs. O. F. WALTON, Author of 'A Peep Behind the
+Scenes,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+LOVE, THE INTRUDER.  A Modern Romance.  By HELEN H. WATSON, Author of
+'Andrew Goodfellow,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+THE FIGHTING LINE.  By DAVID LYALL.  Author of 'The Gold that
+Perisheth,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+THE HIGHWAY OF SORROW: A Story of Modern Russia.  By Hesba Stretton.
+With 4 Illustrations by J. Finnemore, R.I.
+
+VEILED HEARTS: A Romance of Modern Egypt.  By Rachel Willard.  With 3
+Illustrations.
+
+SUNDAY SCHOOL ROMANCES.  By Alfred B. Cooper, with 8 Illustrations.
+
+THE COSSART COUSINS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With 4 Illustrations by
+Gordon Browne, R.I.
+
+THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by
+Lancelot Speed.
+
+GREYFRIARS.  By E. Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by Ernest Prater.
+
+PEGGY SPRY.  By H. M. Ward.  With 3 illustrations by Ernest Prater.
+
+
+
+The 'Queen' Library.
+
+A New Series of Delightful Stories for younger Girls, Each with three
+Coloured Illustrations: Large crown 8vo.  Attractively bound in Cloth
+Gilt, 2s. 6d.
+
+
+MARGARET, or, The Hidden Treasure.  By N.F.P.K.  With three coloured
+illustrations by VICTOR PROUT.
+
+AGAINST THE WORLD.  By EVELYN R. GARRATT, Author of 'Free to Serve.'
+With three coloured illustrations by J. A. SYMINGTON.
+
+LITTLE MISS.  By M. B. MANWELL, Author of 'The Captain's Bunk,'
+'Daisy's Knight,' etc.  With three coloured illustrations by F. E.
+HILEY.
+
+BELLE AND DOLLY.  By ANNE BEALE.  With three coloured illustrations by
+A. TWIDLE.
+
+
+
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+
+  'BRAVE DEEDS' SERIES.
+
+  _Well Illustrated._
+
+  BRAVE DEEDS OF YOUTHFUL HEROES.
+  STRANGE TALES OF PERIL AND ADVENTURE.
+  ADVENTURES ASHORE AND AFLOAT.
+  THE ROMANCE OF REAL LIFE.
+    True Incidents in the Lives of the Great and Good.
+  WIND AND WAVE.  A Tale of the Siege of Leyden.
+  THE CRUISE OF THE 'MARY ROSE.'
+  CEDAR CREEK; Or, from Shanty to Settlement.
+  A BOOK OF HEROES;
+    Or, Great Victories in the Fight for Freedom.
+  ONCE UPON A TIME;
+    Or, The Boy's Book of Adventures.
+  THE BLACK TROOPERS.  And Other Stories.
+  A RACE FOR LIFE.  And Other Tales.
+  NOBLE DEEDS OF THE WORLD'S HEROINES.
+  THROUGH FLOOD AND FLAME.
+      Adventures and Perils of Protestant Heroes.
+  HEROES OF THE GOODWIN SANDS.
+  ON THE INDIAN TRAIL,
+      And Other Stories of the Cree and Salteaux Indians.
+  REMARKABLE ADVENTURES FROM REAL LIFE.
+  THROUGH FIRE AND THROUGH WATER.
+  FRANK LAYTON.  An Australian Story.
+  THE REALM OF THE ICE-KING.
+  THE FOSTER BROTHERS OF DOOM.
+      A Tale of the Irish Rebellion.
+  THE CAPTAIN'S STORY.
+  STEADFAST AND TRUE.
+  ADVENTURE STORIES.
+      Daring Deeds on Land and Sea.
+  HISTORICAL TALES FOR YOUNG PROTESTANTS,
+  BRAVE SONS OF THE EMPIRE.
+  THE LOG OF A SKY-PILOT;
+      Or, Work and Adventure around the Goodwin Sands.
+  SAXBY.  A Tale of the Commonwealth Time.
+  WITHIN SEA WALLS.
+
+  THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 4, BOUVERIE STREET, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines, by 
+Henry Charles Moore
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOBLE DEEDS--WORLD'S HEROINES ***
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines, by 
+Henry Charles Moore
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines
+
+Author: Henry Charles Moore
+
+Release Date: July 1, 2009 [EBook #29286]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOBLE DEEDS--WORLD'S HEROINES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-cover"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2" WIDTH="611" HEIGHT="707">
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="'YOU SHALL NOT KILL MY MISTRESS UNTIL YOU HAVE KILLED ME!'" BORDER="2" WIDTH="372" HEIGHT="602">
+<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 372px">
+'YOU SHALL NOT KILL MY MISTRESS UNTIL YOU HAVE KILLED ME!'
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-title"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-title.jpg" ALT="Title page" BORDER="2" WIDTH="411" HEIGHT="611">
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+Noble Deeds of the
+<BR>
+World's Heroines
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+By
+</H3>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+HENRY CHARLES MOORE
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+<I>WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS</I>
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LONDON
+<BR>
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
+<BR>
+4 Bouverie Street &amp; 65 St. Paul's Churchyard
+<BR>
+1903
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+PREFACE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In these pages I have tried to show how women, old and young, in many
+ranks of life, have proved themselves in times of trial to possess as
+much courage and daring as men.  Some of these 'Brave Women' died for
+their Master's sake, whilst others, in His cause, passed through dire
+peril and grievous suffering.  All of them counted not their lives dear
+unto them, so long only as they might do their duty.  I have designedly
+omitted many familiar heroines in the hope of winning attention for
+some whose deeds have been less widely recognised.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+H. C. M.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3>
+I. BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
+</H3>
+
+<H4 STYLE="margin-left: 2em">
+<A HREF="#chap0101">ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0102">GRACE BUSSELL AND THE WRECK OF THE GEORGETTE</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0103">CATHERINE VASSEUR, THE HEROINE OF NOYEN</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0104">MARY ROGERS, AND THE WRECK OF THE STELLA</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0105">MADELEINE BLANCHET, THE HEROINE OF BUZANÇAIS</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0106">HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL</A><BR>
+</H4>
+
+<H3>
+II. BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN THE MISSION FIELD
+</H3>
+
+<H4 STYLE="margin-left: 2em">
+<A HREF="#chap0201">JANE CHALMERS; ALONE AMONGST CANNIBALS</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0202">ANNA HINDERER, AND THE GOSPEL IN THE YORUBA COUNTRY</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0203">ANN JUDSON</A>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;    )<BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0204">SARAH JUDSON</A>&nbsp;&nbsp;  ) PIONEER WOMEN IN BURMA<BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0205">OLIVIA OGREN, AND AN ESCAPE FROM BOXERS</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0206">EDITH NATHAN</A>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   )<BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0206">MAY NATHAN</A>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;     ) MARTYRED BY BOXERS<BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0206">MARY HEAYSMAN</A>&nbsp;&nbsp;  )<BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0207">MARY RIGGS AND THE SIOUX RISING</A><BR>
+</H4>
+
+<H3>
+III. BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN WAR-TIME
+</H3>
+
+<H4 STYLE="margin-left: 2em">
+<A HREF="#chap0301">MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0302">LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0303">LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0304">LADY HARRIET ACLAND, A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0305">AIMÉE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0306">LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0307">ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0308">THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA</A><BR>
+</H4>
+
+<H3>
+IV. BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
+</H3>
+
+<H4 STYLE="margin-left: 2em">
+<A HREF="#chap0401">ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0402">NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0403">ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0404">GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0405">LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE</A><BR>
+<A HREF="#chap0406">LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION</A><BR>
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0101"></A>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+I
+</H2>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+'FIRE!  FIRE!'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was two o'clock in the morning when this cry was heard in Union
+Street, Borough, London, and the people who ran to the spot saw an oil
+shop in flames, and at a window above it a servant girl, Alice Ayres,
+screaming for help.  Some rushed off to summon the fire-brigade, but
+those who remained feared that before it could arrive the place would
+be gutted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Jump!  jump!' they shouted, and stretched out their coats to break her
+fall.  But instead of jumping Alice Ayres disappeared from the window.
+There were other people in the house, and she was determined not to
+seek safety for herself until she had made an attempt to save their
+lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hurrying to the room where her master, mistress, and one child slept,
+she battered at the door, and awakening them warned them of their
+danger.  Then through smoke and flames she sped back to her own room,
+where three children slept in her charge.  She gave one look out of the
+window, but the firemen were not yet on the scene.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Jump! jump!' the crowd shouted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Alice Ayres ignored the entreaties, for she had determined to save
+the children or die in the attempt.  Her first idea was to tie two
+sheets together and lower the children one by one; but, finding that
+the sheets would not bear their weight, she dragged a feather bed to
+the window and dropped it into the street.  Willing hands seized it and
+held it out, expecting her to jump; but she disappeared again,
+returning, however, a moment or two later, with a little white-robed
+child in her arms.  Holding her at arms' length out of the window, she
+glanced down at the bed, and seeing that it was ready, dropped her.  A
+tremendous cheer from the crowd told her that the little one was safe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then she snatched up the second little girl, but the poor mite was
+terrified, and throwing her arms around Alice's neck cried piteously,
+'Don't throw me out of window!'  So tightly did the child cling to her
+that Alice had great difficulty in getting her into a proper position
+to drop her on to the bed, but she succeeded at last, and another loud
+cheer from the crowd announced that she had saved two lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Scarcely five minutes had elapsed since the fire broke out, but the
+contents of the shop were such that the flames spread at a fearful
+rate, and the onlookers knew that if Alice Ayres did not jump quickly
+she would be burned to death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Jump! jump!' they shouted excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But there was a baby lying in the cot, and back Alice Ayres went,
+brought it safely through fire and smoke to the window, and dropped it
+out.  She had saved three lives!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Weakened by the heat and the smoke, Alice Ayres now decided to leap
+from the window, and the anxious people in the street watched her in
+silence as she climbed to the window sill.  She jumped, but her body
+struck one of the large dummy jars above the front of the shop and
+caused her to fall head foremost on the bed, and then topple over on to
+the pavement with a sickening thud.  Quickly and tenderly she was
+lifted on to a shutter and carried into a neighbouring shop, where
+medical aid was soon at hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meanwhile the firemen had arrived.  They had come as soon as
+they were called, but they arrived too late to save the other three
+inmates of the house from perishing in the flames.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the interest of the crowd was centred in the condition of Alice
+Ayres, and as she was being removed to Guy's Hospital there was
+scarcely a man or a woman present whose eyes were not filled with
+tears.  Many followed on to the hospital, in the hope of hearing the
+medical opinion of her condition, and before long it became known that
+she had fractured and dislocated her spine, and that there was no hope
+of her recovery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Alice Ayres died at Guy's Hospital on Sunday, April 26, 1885, aged 25,
+and at the inquest, when her coffin was covered with beautiful flowers
+sent from all parts of the land, the coroner declared that he should
+not be doing justice to the jury or the public, did he not give
+expression to the general feeling of admiration which her noble conduct
+had aroused.  In the hurry and excitement of a fire there were few who
+had the presence of mind to act as she had done, or who would run the
+risks she had for the sake of saving others.  He deeply regretted that
+so valuable a life, offered so generously, had been sacrificed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the Postmen's Park, which adjoins the General Post Office, there is
+a cloister bearing the inscription, 'In Commemoration of Heroic
+Self-Sacrifice.'  Within it are tablets to the memory of heroes of
+humble life, and one of the most interesting of these is that on which
+is inscribed:&mdash;'Alice Ayres, daughter of a bricklayer's labourer, who
+by intrepid conduct saved three children from a burning house in Union
+Street, Borough, at the cost of her own young life.  April 24, 1885.'
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0102"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GRACE BUSSELL AND THE WRECK OF THE GEORGETTE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The steamer Georgette had sprung a leak while on a voyage from
+Fremantle to Adelaide, and the captain knew that there was little hope
+of saving his ship.  But there were forty-eight passengers, including
+women and children, and to save these and the crew was the great desire
+of the captain.  The ship's lifeboat was lowered, but this too was in a
+leaky condition, and the eight persons who put off in it were drowned
+before the eyes of their friends on the Georgette.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seeing, soon, that there was absolutely no hope of saving his vessel,
+the captain decided to run her ashore, hoping by that means to be able
+to save all aboard her.  The vessel grounded some 180 miles south of
+Fremantle on December 2, 1876; but she was some distance from the
+shore, and it seemed to the captain that no boat could pass through the
+surf which would have to be crossed to reach land.  He swept the coast
+through his glass, but not a house or human being could he see, and he
+gave up all hope of receiving help from the shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A boat was launched, but it had scarcely quitted the steamer's side
+when it capsized, and before the crew could right it and bring it back
+to the ship an hour had elapsed.  Once again it was lowered, but it
+capsized again in two and a half fathoms of water, and the women and
+children who escaped drowning clung to the overturned boat, and called
+to those aboard the steamer to save them.  But help did not come from
+that quarter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grace Bussell, the sixteen years old daughter of an English settler who
+lived some twelve miles from the point opposite to which the Georgette
+had gone ashore, was riding through the bush, accompanied by a native
+stockman, and coming out towards the edge of the cliff saw the steamer
+in distress, and witnessed the overturning of the small boat.
+Horrified at the position of the poor people on the upturned boat, she
+moved her horse forward and descended the steep cliff.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a terribly dangerous act, for had the horse slipped both beast
+and rider would have fallen to certain death.  Behind her, on his own
+horse, rode the stockman, which of course made the danger greater.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Grace Bussell made nothing of the danger she was undergoing, her
+sole thought being to reach the drowning people as quickly as possible.
+The passengers and crew of the Georgette, watching her with a strange
+fascination, expected every minute to see her fall and be killed.  To
+their astonishment she reached the beach in safety, and rode straight
+into the boiling surf.  The waves broke over her, and it seemed
+impossible that she would ever reach the upturned boat and rescue the
+exhausted people clinging to it.  Once the horse stumbled, but Grace
+was a skilful rider and pulled him up quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As she drew near to the boat, closely followed by the stockman, hope
+revived in the hearts of the shivering women and children clinging to
+it, and when at last she was alongside every mother besought her to
+take her child.  Quickly she placed two little ones before her on the
+saddle, and grasping hold of a third she started for the shore.  The
+stockman, with as many children as he could hold, rode close behind her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The journey outward had been difficult and dangerous, but now that her
+horse was carrying an extra load it was infinitely more so.  However,
+she proceeded slowly, and although on one or two occasions they were
+nearly swept away they reached the beach in safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having carefully placed her living load on dry land, she rode again
+into the raging sea.  Her progress was slower this time, but she
+returned to shore with children on her saddle and women clinging to her
+skirt on each side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Drenched to the skin and exhausted by the buffeting of the surf, Grace
+Bussell might have pleaded that she had not the strength to make
+another journey, but again and again, accompanied by the stockman, she
+rode out into the dangerous sea, and not until four hours had passed,
+and the last passenger was brought ashore, did she take a rest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hungry, tired, and shivering with cold, she sank to the ground; but she
+soon noticed that many of those whom she had saved were more exhausted
+than she, and that unless food and warm clothing were given them
+quickly they would probably die.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So, rising from the ground, she mounted her dripping horse and galloped
+off towards home.  The twelve miles were covered quickly, but on
+dismounting at her home Grace fainted, and it was some time before her
+anxious parents could discover what had caused her to be in such a
+drenched and exhausted condition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When at last she told the story of the shipwreck her sister got
+together blankets and food and rode off to the sufferers, whom she
+carefully tended throughout the night.  At daybreak Mr. Bussell arrived
+with his wagon, and conveyed the whole party to his home, where they
+remained tenderly nursed by mother and daughters for several days.
+Mrs. Bussell, it is sad to say, died from brain fever brought on by her
+anxiety concerning the shipwrecked people whom she had taken into her
+house.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grace Bussell's bravery was not allowed to pass unnoticed.  The Royal
+Humane Society presented her with its medal, and a medal was also
+bestowed upon the stockman who had accompanied his mistress down the
+steep cliff and on her many journeys to and from the upturned boat.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0103"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CATHERINE VASSEUR, THE HEROINE OF NOYEN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+A terrible accident had occurred in one of the streets of Noyen.  The
+men engaged in repairing a sewer had, on finishing their day's work,
+neglected to take proper precautions for the safety of the public.
+They had placed some thin planks across the opening, but omitted to
+erect a barrier or to fix warning lights near the hole, with the result
+that four workingmen, homeward bound, stepped on the planks and fell
+through into the loathsome sewer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An excited crowd of French men and women gathered round the hole, but
+no one made any effort to rescue the poor fellows.  Soon the wives of
+the imperilled men, hearing of the accident, ran to the spot, and with
+tears in their eyes begged the men who were standing round the opening
+to descend and rescue their husbands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But not a man in the crowd was brave enough to risk his life for his
+fellow-men.  They would be suffocated and eaten by rats, was their
+excuse, and the frantic entreaties of the poor wives failed to stir
+them to act like men.  Women were crying and fainting, men were
+gesticulating and talking volubly, but nothing was being done to rescue
+the poor fellows from the poisonous sewer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But help came from an unexpected quarter.  Catherine Vasseur, a
+delicate-looking servant girl, seventeen years of age, pushed her way
+to the front, and said quietly, 'I'll go down and try to save them.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It seemed impossible that this slightly built young girl could rescue
+the men, but her willingness to make the attempt did not shame any of
+the strong fellows standing by into taking her place.  All they did was
+to lower her into the dark, loathsome hole.  On arriving at the bottom
+she quickly found the four unconscious men, and tying the ropes round
+two of them gave the signal for them to be hauled up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The few minutes' work on the poisonous atmosphere was already telling
+upon her, and finding herself gasping for breath she tied a rope around
+her waist, and was drawn to the surface.  The women whose husbands she
+had saved showered blessings upon her, and the other two implored her
+to rescue theirs.  She replied that she would do so if possible, and
+having regained her breath she again descended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A third man was rescued, but before she could attend to the fourth she
+felt herself becoming dazed.  She decided to go to the surface again,
+and return for the fourth man when the fresh air had revived her.  It
+was necessary that she should be drawn up quickly, but the rope which
+had been tied around her waist had become unfastened, and it was some
+minutes before she found it.  When she did find it she was too
+exhausted to draw it down to tie around her.  For a few moments she
+tugged at the heavy rope, but could not draw it lower than her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There seemed to be no escape for her, when suddenly a bright idea
+occurred to her&mdash;she undid her long hair and tied it to the rope.  Then
+she gave the signal to haul up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cries of horror and pity burst from the onlookers when they caught
+sight of the brave girl hanging by her hair, and apparently dead.
+Quickly untying her, they carried her into the fresh air, where she was
+promptly attended to by a doctor, who eventually succeeded in restoring
+her to consciousness.  She received the praise bestowed upon her with
+the modesty of a genuine heroine, and was greatly distressed at having
+been unable to save the fourth man.  The poor fellow was dead long
+before his body was recovered by the sewermen, for none of the men who
+had witnessed Catherine Vasseur's heroism had been brave enough to
+follow her example.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0104"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARY ROGERS AND THE WRECK OF THE STELLA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was at 11.25 on the morning of Thursday, March 30, 1899, that the
+steamship Stella left Southampton for Guernsey with 140 passengers and
+42 crew aboard.  Most of the passengers were looking forward to
+spending a pleasant Easter holiday at Guernsey or Jersey, but a few
+were natives of the Channel Islands returning from a visit to England.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the first two hours the voyage was uneventful, but at about 1.30
+the Stella ran into a dense fog.  The ship's speed was not reduced, but
+the fog-horn was kept going.  There is nothing more depressing at sea
+than the dismal hooting of the fog-horn, and it is not surprising that
+some of the ladies aboard the Stella became nervous.  These Mrs.
+Rogers, the stewardess, in a bright, cheery manner endeavoured to
+reassure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mary Rogers' life had been one of hard work and self-denial.  Eighteen
+years previous to the Stella making her last trip Mary Rogers' husband
+had been drowned at sea, and the young widow was left with a little
+girl two years old to support; and a few weeks later a boy was born.
+To bring her children up carefully and have them properly educated
+became Mrs. Rogers' chief object in life, and to enable her to do this
+she obtained her position as stewardess.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her experience of the sea had been slight, and for five years after
+becoming stewardess she scarcely ever made a trip without being
+sea-sick.  Many women would have resigned the appointment in despair,
+but Mary Rogers stuck to her post for the sake of her children.  Ill
+though she might herself be, she always managed to appear happy, and to
+attend promptly to the requirements of the lady passengers.  When at
+last she was able to make a voyage without feeling sea-sick, her
+kindness to the ladies in her care became still more noticeable.  In
+foggy or rough weather her bright, sympathetic manner cheered the
+drooping spirits of all who might be ill or nervous.  At night she
+would go round, uncalled, and if she found any lady too nervous to
+sleep she would stay and talk to her for a time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Only a few months before the Stella's fatal trip, a lady passenger
+assured Mrs. Rogers that her bright, cheery sympathy had done much to
+make her trip pleasant.  'Well, you see, ma'am,' Mrs. Rogers replied,
+'I don't believe in going about with a sad face, and it is such a
+pleasure when one can help others.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this time Mrs. Rogers' prospects were very bright.  Her children,
+whom she declared 'any mother might be proud of, they are so good,' had
+grown up, and her daughter was to be married in the summer.  In three
+years her son would finish his apprenticeship to a ship-builder, and it
+was settled that then she was to retire from sea-life and live with her
+daughter, continuing, as she had done for several years, to support her
+aged father.  But the days to which she was looking forward with
+pleasure she was never to see.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For two hours the Stella ran through the dense fog on this fatal March
+30, and at about ten minutes to four the captain was under the
+impression that the Casquets lay eight miles to the east.  But suddenly
+they loomed out of the darkness, and almost immediately the Stella
+struck one of the dreaded rocks.  Instantly the captain saw that there
+was no hope of saving his ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Serve out the life-belts!'  'Out with the boats!'  'Women and children
+first!' were the orders he shouted from the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Rogers did not for a moment lose her presence of mind, and by her
+activity many women were saved who would in all probability never have
+reached the deck.  The ladies' saloon was long, but the door was
+somewhat narrow, and being round an awkward corner there would have
+been a fearful struggle to get through it, had a panic arisen.  But
+Mrs. Rogers, by her calmness and promptitude, prevented anything
+approaching a panic, and got her passengers quickly on deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To all who had not provided themselves with them she gave life-belts,
+and then assisted them into the boats.  The last boat was nearly
+full&mdash;there was room for only one more&mdash;and the sailors in charge of it
+called to Mrs. Rogers to come into it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before attempting to do so she took a last look round, to see that all
+the ladies were gone, and saw that there was one still there, and
+without a life-belt.  Instantly Mrs. Rogers took off her own, placed it
+upon her, led her to the boat, and gave up her last chance of escape.
+But the sailors who had witnessed her heroism did not wish to pull away
+without her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Jump, Mrs. Rogers, jump!' they shouted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'No, no,' she replied, 'if I get in, the boat will sink.  Good-bye,
+good-bye.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then raising her hands to heaven she cried, 'Lord, have me!' and almost
+immediately the ship sank beneath her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seventy lives were lost in the wreck of the Stella, and the news of the
+terrible calamity cast a gloom over the Easter holidays.  An inquiry
+was held to determine the cause of the ship getting out of her course,
+but the result need not be mentioned here.  One thing that soon came to
+light was the story of Mary Rogers' heroism, which sent a thrill of
+admiration through all who heard it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her well-spent life had been crowned with an act of heroism, and her
+memory is deserving of more than the tablet which has been placed in
+the Postmen's Park.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0105"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MADELEINE BLANCHET
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+THE HEROINE OF BUZANÇAIS
+</H4>
+
+<P>
+The Red Republicans had risen.  The factories and private residences of
+the wealthy inhabitants of Buzançais were in flames, and owners of
+property, irrespective of age and sex, were being dragged from their
+hiding-places and murdered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For some months it had been rumoured that the Red Republicans,
+aggrieved at the high price of bread, intended to rise and kill all who
+possessed wealth; but the people of Buzançais paid no attention to
+these rumours, and were consequently unprepared to defend themselves
+when, on January 14, 1853, the rising occurred.  Had they banded
+themselves together, they could have quelled the riot, but, taken by
+the surprise, the majority sought safety in hiding.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meeting with no resistance, the Red Republicans pushed through the
+town, leaving behind them a trail of fire and blood, and came at last
+to a big house where lived Madame Chambert and her son.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Chambert was a kind old lady, and generous to the poor; but the
+Red Republicans, inflamed by wine which they had stolen from various
+houses, forgot her good deeds, and remembered only that she was
+wealthy.  And because she was wealthy they were determined to kill both
+her and her son.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Chambert and her son were in the drawing-room when the
+infuriated mob burst into the house.  It was useless to attempt to
+drive them out, as all the servants, with the exception of Madeleine
+Blanchet and a man, had deserted them.  At last the armed mob, their
+blouses stained with blood and wine, rushed into the drawing-room
+hurling insults at the poor old lady, and charging her with crimes
+which she had never committed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madeleine Blanchet fainted on hearing her mistress so grossly insulted,
+but the man-servant rushed at the ringleader and knocked him down.  The
+half-drunk murderers were eager to kill the Chamberts at once, plunder
+the house, set light to it, and pass on; but as they stepped forward to
+kill the old lady her son fired his gun and killed one of them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The whole mob now rushed at Monsieur Chambert, who escaped from the
+room, but was caught before he could find a hiding-place, and hacked to
+death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meanwhile Madeleine Blanchet had recovered consciousness, and
+going to her mistress, whom she had served for nine years, she hurried
+her from the room to seek a place of safety.  But in the hall they came
+face to face with the murderers returning from committing their latest
+crime.  'Death! death!' they shouted, and attempted to strike the old
+lady, but Madeleine Blanchet, with one arm around her waist, received
+the blows intended for her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Go, go, my poor girl!' Madame Chambert murmured.  'I must die here.
+Go away.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Madeleine Blanchet refused to leave her, and shouted to the
+cowardly ruffians, 'You shall not kill my mistress until you have
+killed me!'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Still parrying the blows aimed at her mistress, she implored the men
+not to be such cowards as to kill a helpless old lady.  This appeal and
+her devotion to her mistress touched the hearts of two of the Red
+Republicans, who declared that the old lady should not be killed while
+they could strike a blow in her defence.  Guarded by these two men,
+Madeleine Blanchet carried her mistress to a neighbour's house, where a
+hiding-place was found for her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Assured that her mistress was safe from further molestation, Madeleine
+Blanchet hurried back to the house, which the rioters were looting, and
+saved many treasures from falling into their hands.  This dangerous
+self-imposed task she performed several times.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Red Republicans' reign at Buzançais was terrible, but it was short.
+Scores of them were arrested, and Madeleine Blanchet was one of the
+witnesses for the prosecution.  She told of the attack upon her
+mistress's house and the murder of her young master, but not a word did
+she say concerning her own bravery.  The President of the Court had,
+however, heard of it, and was determined that her heroism should not be
+unknown because of her modesty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'We have been told,' he said to her, 'that you defended your mistress
+with your body from the blows of the murderers, and that you declared
+that they should kill you before they killed your mistress.  Is that
+true?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madeleine replied that it was, and the President, after commending her
+for her bravery and devotion to her mistress, declared that if there
+had been twenty men in Buzançais with the courage she had shown, the
+rioters would have been quickly dispersed and the terrible crimes
+averted.  The story of Madeleine Blanchet's heroism spread rapidly
+throughout France, and the Academy made a popular award, when it
+presented her with a gold medal and five thousand francs.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0106"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On October 14, 1881, a gale raged throughout England, and in all parts
+of the country there was a terrible destruction of lives and property.
+Round our coasts ships were wrecked, and the number of lives lost at
+sea on that day was appalling, while on shore many people were killed
+by the falling of trees, chimney-pots and tiles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In Sutton, Lancashire, the gale raged with tremendous fury, and the
+children in the local National School, frightened by the roaring and
+shrieking of the wind, could pay little attention to their lessons.
+Hannah Rosbotham, the assistant mistress, was in charge of the school,
+the head mistress being absent through ill-health.  She was very
+popular among her pupils, and knew them all intimately, having herself
+lived all her life in the village, and having been educated at the
+school in which she was now a teacher.  She calmed the more timid of
+her pupils, and endeavoured to carry on the school as if nothing
+unusual were happening outside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While she was teaching the bigger children, the infants (little tots of
+three and four) were sitting in the gallery at the further end of the
+room in the care of a pupil teacher.  Over this gallery was the belfry,
+a large stone structure.  It had weathered many a storm, but none had
+equalled this gale.  Suddenly about 11 o'clock Hannah Rosbotham was
+startled by a loud rumbling, grinding noise, and almost at the same
+moment a portion of the belfry crashed through the roof and fell in
+pieces upon the poor little children in the gallery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Immediately there was a stampede.  The pupils and the pupil teachers
+rushed terror-stricken into the wind-swept playground, every one
+anxious for her own safety.  But Hannah Rosbotham did not fly from the
+danger; she thought only of the little children in the gallery.  The
+air was filled with dust, but she groped her way to the gallery
+staircase, which was littered with stone, wood and slates.  Hurrying up
+she found, to her great joy, that many of the little ones had escaped
+injury.  Some were crying, but others sat silent and terror-stricken,
+gazing at the spot where several of their little friends lay buried in
+the ruins.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having hurried out the children who had so wonderfully escaped injury,
+she set to work to rescue those who lay injured.  And the magnitude of
+the task which lay before her may be realised from the fact that
+sixteen-hundredweight of belfry-ruins had fallen through into the
+gallery.  Quickly and unaided Hannah Rosbotham tore away the timber,
+stone and slate that were crushing the little sufferers, whose pale
+faces and pleading voices filled her heart with anguish, but gave
+strength to her arms.  As she knelt tearing away with her bare hands
+the mass of ruins, fragments of stone and slate fell continuously
+around her, and she knew that at any moment she might be struck dead.
+The gale was still raging, and as she glanced up through the hole in
+the roof she saw the part of the belfry which had not yet given way.  A
+continuous shower of fragments fell from it, but if the remaining
+portion were blown down simultaneously, she and her infant pupils would
+be crushed to death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Working with tremendous energy she set free one by one the terrified
+young prisoners.  Some were very little hurt, and were able to hurry
+away into the playground, but there were others who had been severely
+injured, and these she had to carry away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last her task was done, and happily without any serious results to
+herself.  Although she had been throughout her brave work surrounded by
+danger she escaped with nothing more serious than a few scratches.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she came into the playground with the last of the children she had
+rescued, she found that the villagers had arrived on the scene.  They
+had heard of the accident, and had come to seek their children, and
+having found them alive they joined in showering praise and blessings
+upon Hannah Rosbotham.  Now that all danger was over the brave young
+schoolmistress&mdash;she was only twenty years of age&mdash;broke down and cried
+hysterically, but before long she was calm again, and started out to
+visit at their homes the little ones whom she had saved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Such bravery as Hannah Rosbotham had shown could not of course escape
+recognition.  The Albert Medal was presented to her on January 11,
+1882, and later the Managers of the Sutton National School gave her a
+gold watch, on which was inscribed their appreciation 'of her
+courageous behaviour in rescuing the school-children during the gale of
+October 14, 1881, that destroyed the roof of the school, and for which
+act of bravery she has been awarded the Albert Medal by Her Majesty.'
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0201"></A>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+II
+</H2>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN THE MISSION FIELD
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+JANE CHALMERS
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+ALONE AMONGST CANNIBALS
+</H4>
+
+<P>
+Alone among cannibals!  One can scarcely imagine a more terrifying
+experience for a white woman.  No matter how friendly people around
+might be, the knowledge that they were by long habit cannibals, whose
+huts were adorned with human skulls, would be sufficient to strike
+terror to the heart of the bravest.  One woman is known to have
+experienced this trying ordeal, and she was a missionary's wife.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the life of that noble missionary, James Chalmers,[<A NAME="chap0201fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0201fn1">1</A>] we get
+glimpses of a woman who was indeed a heroine, and who had the
+unpleasant experience of being left for a time, without any white
+companions, in the midst of cannibals.  This was Jane Chalmers the
+martyr-missionary's first wife.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Jane Hercus was married to Chalmers in October, 1865, and in the
+following January they sailed for Australia on their way to the South
+Sea Islands.  At the very outset of their missionary career danger
+assailed them.  A gale sprang up in the Channel, and for a time it was
+believed that the ship and everyone aboard her would be lost.
+Providentially, however, their vessel weathered the storm, although so
+much damaged that she had to put into Weymouth, and remain there a
+fortnight for repairs.  On May 20 they arrived in Adelaide, and in
+August sailed from Sydney for the New Hebrides; but while approaching
+Aneiteum, to land some passengers, the ship struck an unseen reef, and
+could not be got off until some days had elapsed.  Temporary repairs
+were made, and with men working at the pumps day and night the ship
+slowly made her way back to Sydney.  After six weeks' enforced stay at
+Sydney, Jane Chalmers and her husband made another start for their
+destination, which, however, they were not to reach without further
+danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On January 8 the ship struck on a reef which surrounds Savage Island,
+and became a total wreck, but happily, without loss of life, as the
+passengers and crew managed to get off in the boats.  They reached
+shore in safety, but although Jane Chalmers was ill for some time,
+neither she nor her husband were discouraged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Six weeks after the wreck of the ship, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers left on a
+schooner for Samoa, and during the voyage Mrs. Chalmers' health
+improved.  After a six weeks' stay at Samoa Chalmers and his wife
+sailed for Rarotonga, and on May 20, 1867, arrived there.  In that
+beautiful island Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers settled down at once to work.
+'The natives,' Mrs. Chalmers wrote, 'have to be treated in all things
+more like children at home than men.  They soon get weary and
+discouraged in any work, but a few words of praise or encouragement put
+fresh spirit within them.'  Missionaries had laboured at Rarotonga
+before the arrival of the Chalmers, and the work was not exactly the
+type which James Chalmers desired.  He longed to be a missionary to the
+heathen; but it was not until he had spent ten years at Rarotonga that
+his desire was gratified by his being appointed to New Guinea, then a
+comparatively unknown land, the people of which were savages of the
+most degraded type.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At Dunedin, where the Chalmers stayed for a time, Mrs. Chalmers was
+frequently urged to remain behind until her husband was settled in his
+new home.  'No,' she replied on every occasion 'my place is by my
+husband's side.'  And so this brave woman, in spite of the
+protestations of her friends, went forth with her husband to live among
+cannibals.  The first native who spoke to Mrs. Chalmers on their
+arrival at Suau was wearing a necklace of human bones, and wishing to
+be gracious to her, this same cannibal offered her later a portion of a
+man's breast ready cooked!  Signs of cannibalism were to be found
+everywhere, and the chief's house in which the Chalmers took up their
+residence until their own was built, was hung with human skulls.  Such
+sights as Jane Chalmers witnessed were bad enough to appal any woman,
+but she bore up bravely, and was soon busy learning the language from a
+young warrior, whom, in return, she taught knitting and tatting.  Both
+she and her husband made friends quickly, and some of their new
+friends, intending to please them, invited the missionary and his wife
+to a cannibal feast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, it was not long before the Chalmers were in great danger
+of losing their lives.  The vessel which had brought them to New Guinea
+was still standing off the island, and the natives, in an attempt to
+capture it, had one of their number killed.  For this they demanded
+compensation from Chalmers, who, of course, was in no way responsible
+for the man's death.  Chalmers promised to give them compensation on
+the following day, but the natives demanded that it should be given
+immediately, and departed very sulkily when their request was refused.
+Later in the day a native warned Chalmers that he, his wife, and his
+teachers from Rarotonga had better get away to the ship during the
+night, as the natives had decided to murder them early in the following
+morning.  Chalmers told his wife what the native had said, and added,
+'It is for you to decide.  Shall we men stay, and you women go, as
+there is not room enough for us all on the vessel? or shall we try all
+of us to go? or shall we all stay?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'We have come here to preach the Gospel and do these people good,' Mrs.
+Chalmers replied.  'God, whom we serve, will take care of us.  We will
+stay.  If we die, we die; if we live, we live.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the teachers' wives were asked if they would like to go aboard the
+ship, but their answer was that whatever Mrs. Chalmers did they would
+do.  Therefore it was decided that they should all stay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the night the little band of Christians could hear the war-horn
+calling the natives together, and the shouts of the cannibals as they
+came in from all parts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers had made up in parcels the
+compensation which they intended to offer the people; but when, at four
+o'clock in the morning, the chief arrived to make a last demand he
+declared that they were not sufficient.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'If you will wait till the steamer comes I may be able to give you
+more,' Chalmers said, 'but at present I cannot.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'I must have more now,' the chief declared, and departed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The attack was now expected every minute, but hour after hour passed
+and the natives did not re-appear.  At three o'clock in the morning
+Chalmers turned in, but he had not long been asleep when his wife
+discovered the cannibals approaching.  Chalmers, aroused by his wife,
+ran to the door and faced the savages.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'What do you want?' he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Give us more compensation,' the leader replied, 'or we will kill you
+and burn the house.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Kill you may, but no more compensation do I give,' Chalmers answered.
+'Remember that if we die, we shall die fighting.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Chalmers took down his musket and loaded it in sight of the
+cannibals, who, having seen the missionary shoot birds, feared his
+skill.  They withdrew and discussed what to do.  For about an hour and
+a half the band of Christians waited for the attack to be made.  Many
+of them were, naturally enough, much distressed at the thought of being
+killed and eaten, but throughout this trying time Jane Chalmers
+remained calm, assured that whatever might happen would be in
+accordance with God's will.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the Chalmers' life-work was not yet ended.  The chief of the
+village decided that they should not be killed.  'Before this white man
+came here with his friends I was nobody,' he said to the men who had
+assembled from other parts of New Guinea.  'They have brought me
+tomahawks, hoop-iron, red beads and cloth.  You have no white man, and
+if you try to kill him, you kill him over my body.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It would have been only natural if Jane Chalmers, after the experiences
+she had undergone, had decided that she could no longer live at Suau;
+but no such thought ever entered her head.  Some months later she did
+as not one woman in a million would have done&mdash;remained for six weeks
+among cannibals with not another white person in the place.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her husband sailed away to visit the native preachers at other
+villages, but she remained behind because she did not think it right
+that they should both leave their Rarotongan teachers so soon after the
+disturbances already described.  The natives promised Chalmers, before
+he departed, that they would treat her kindly; and although the
+temptation to kill and eat her must often have been great, they kept
+their promise.  But nevertheless she knew that her life might be ended
+at any moment, and it is easy to imagine her feelings when, one night
+as she was preparing for bed, she heard a commotion outside the house,
+men and women shouting and screaming loudly.  One of the teachers went
+out to discover the meaning of the uproar, and returned with the
+comforting news that there was an eclipse of the moon, and that the
+natives were alarmed because they believed it would cause many of them
+to die.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cannibals were very proud of having taken care of Mrs. Chalmers,
+and received with a conviction that they had well earned them, the
+presents and thanks which her husband, on his return, bestowed upon
+them.  At the same time Mrs. Chalmers' pluck in remaining among them
+made a great impression on the cannibals, and caused them to have more
+confidence than ever in the missionaries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But although Jane Chalmers was as full of courage and faith as when she
+arrived at Suau the trials and excitement of the life she had led there
+began to impair her health.  Nevertheless, she did not complain, and
+when the mission at Suau was established on a sound footing she
+accompanied her husband on a voyage along the coast to visit places
+where a white man had never yet been seen; but eventually it became
+plain to herself and her husband that she needed rest and nursing.
+Accordingly she sailed for Sydney, to wait there until her husband
+could follow and take her to England.  But they never met again.  The
+doctors at Sydney pronounced her to be suffering from consumption, and
+held out little hope of her recovery.  She, however, was very hopeful,
+and believed that before long she might be able to return to her
+husband at New Guinea.  But this was not to be, and this heroic woman
+passed away before her husband's arrival.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0201fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0201fn1text">1</A>] <I>James Chalmers, his Autobiography and Letters</I>, by Richard Lovett,
+M.A.  (Religious Tract Society.)
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0202"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ANNA HINDERER, AND THE GOSPEL IN THE YORUBA COUNTRY
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+'The White Man's Grave' and 'No White Man's Land' are the ominous names
+that have been bestowed on several unhealthy countries where Europeans
+have been compelled to reside; but there were none, fifty years ago,
+more deserving of being so described than Ashantee, Dahomey, and the
+Yoruba country.  Nothing but the prospect of growing rich rapidly would
+persuade a white man, unless he were a missionary, to live in any of
+those countries, and a European woman was almost unknown there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One of the first white women to risk the dangers of the Yoruba climate
+was Anna Hinderer, to whom belongs the honour of being the first of her
+colour to visit Ibadan.  It was not, however, a mere visit that she
+paid to this unhealthy West African town; for seventeen years she lived
+there with her husband, devoting herself almost entirely to educating
+the native children.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her mother died when she was five years old, and it was probably owing
+to her own childhood being sad and lonely that Anna Martin, afterwards
+Mrs. Hinderer, early in life began to take an interest in the welfare
+of poor and neglected children.  In 1839, when only twelve years of
+age, she went to live with her grandfather at Lowestoft, and soon made
+two lifelong friends.  They were the Rev. Francis Cunningham, Vicar of
+Lowestoft, and his wife, who was sister of that noble Quakeress,
+Elizabeth Fry.  The friendship began by Anna Martin asking Mrs.
+Cunningham to be allowed to take a Sunday School class.  She feared
+that being only twelve years old her request would not be entertained,
+but to her great joy it was granted at once.  A little later she went
+to live with the Cunninghams, and was never so happy as when assisting
+in some good work.  When only fourteen years of age she started a class
+for ragged and neglected children, and eventually she had as many as
+two hundred pupils.  Many other schemes for the happiness of children
+were suggested by her, and, with the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham,
+successfully carried out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Anna Martin had long wished to be a missionary when she made the
+acquaintance of the Rev. David Hinderer, who had returned to England
+after labouring for four years in the Yoruba country, which stretches
+inland from the Bight of Benin almost to the Niger Territory, and is
+bordered on the west by Dahomey.  Anna Martin was deeply interested in
+all that Mr. Hinderer told her of his little-known land, where lived
+some three million heathen, broken up into many tribes, but speaking
+one language.  Before long the missionary asked Anna Martin to become
+his wife, and on October 14, 1852, they were married at the old parish
+church of Lowestoft.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seven weeks after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer started for
+Africa, and arrived at Lagos on Christmas Eve.  Mrs. Hinderer had
+suffered greatly from sea-sickness throughout the voyage, and three
+weeks after her arrival at Lagos she had her first attack of African
+fever.  It was a sharp one, and left her very weak, but as soon as she
+was sufficiently strong to travel they started in canoes for Abeokuta.
+This was indeed a trying journey for a young woman who had been
+accustomed to the comforts of a well-to-do English home; but she had,
+of course, made up her mind to bear hardships in her Master's service,
+and whether they were sleeping in a village or in a tent pitched by the
+river-side, with fires lighted to keep wild beasts at a distance, she
+made no complaint.  Sometimes she was home-sick, but these natural fits
+of depression soon passed away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On arriving at Abeokuta Anna Hinderer had another severe attack of
+fever, which, as she stated in her diary, edited many years later by
+Archdeacon Hone, and published with the title <I>Seventeen Years in the
+Yoruba Country</I>, left her so weak that she could hardly lift her hand
+to her head.  Her husband was also down with fever; a missionary with
+whom they were staying died of it; and, a few weeks later, another
+missionary passed suddenly away.  A more gloomy beginning to a young
+worker's missionary career there could scarcely have been, but Anna
+Hinderer was far from being disheartened, and was eager to reach their
+destination.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last they arrived at Ibadan.  Mr. Hinderer had made known that he
+was bringing her, and when the news, 'the white mother is come,' spread
+through the village, men, women and children rushed out to see her.
+Very few of them had ever seen a white woman, for, as already stated,
+Anna Hinderer was the first to visit Ibadan, and their curiosity was
+somewhat embarrassing.  They followed her to her new home, and for days
+hung about in crowds, anxious to catch a glimpse of her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mission-house was not an attractive or comfortable place.  It
+consisted of one room, 30 feet by 6.  Anna Hinderer had to exercise her
+ingenuity in making it appear homelike.  How she managed to do this we
+gather from the following extract from a letter written by Dr. Irving,
+R.N., who visited Ibadan shortly after they had settled down:&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer at present live in such a funny little place;
+quite a primitive mud dwelling, where no two persons can walk abreast
+at one time.  And yet there is an air of quiet domestic comfort and
+happiness about it that makes it a little palace in my eyes.  It is
+unfortunate, however, for my temples, for in screwing in at one door
+and out at the other, forgetting to stoop at the proper time, my head
+gets many a knock.  At one end, six feet square, is the bedroom,
+separated from the dining-room by a standing bookcase; my bedroom is at
+one end of this, formed by a sofa, and my privacy established by a
+white sheet, put across for a screen at bedtime.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a very short time Anna Hinderer became popular with the women and
+children, and set to work to learn the language.  The boys being eager
+to learn English she would point to a tree, pig, horse, or anything
+near by, and the youngsters would tell her the Yoruba name for it.  In
+return she told them the English name.  But long before she had
+acquired anything like a useful knowledge of the language she managed
+to make the women and children understand that Sunday was a day of
+rest, and was delighted to see that many of them followed her example
+and gave up their Sunday occupations.  The women were indeed deeply
+attached to her.  If she looked hot they fanned her, and whenever they
+saw that she was tired they insisted upon her sitting down.  When she
+had an attack of fever they were greatly distressed, and constantly
+inquiring how she was progressing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having at last acquired a fair knowledge of the Yoruba language, Anna
+Hinderer started a day school for children, and to nine little boys who
+were regular in their attendance she gave a blue shirt each, of which
+they were immensely proud.  A little later she prevailed upon a chief
+to allow his two children to come and live with her.  One was a girl
+six years of age, and the other her brother, two years younger.
+Throughout the day the little ones were very happy, but towards evening
+the girl wanted to go home.  She was evidently frightened, and was
+overheard saying to her brother, "Don't stay.  When it gets dark the
+white people kill and eat the black."  Both, then, ran off home, but
+returned the following morning.  A few days later the boy, in spite of
+his sister's warnings, stayed all night.  The girl left him in great
+distress, and at daybreak was waiting outside the mission-house,
+anxious to see if he were still alive.  Her astonishment on finding
+that he had been treated as kindly after dark as during daylight was
+great.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was no easy task to manage a school of native children, but,
+nevertheless, the experience she had gained among the Lowestoft
+children made the task lighter than otherwise it would have been.
+'Happy, happy years were those I spent with you,' she wrote to Mr.
+Cunningham, 'and entirely preparatory they have been for my work and
+calling.'  She managed to impress upon her dusky little pupils that it
+was necessary to wash more than once or twice a week, and that they
+must keep quiet during school and service.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day while her husband was preaching he referred to idols, and
+quoted the Psalm, 'They have mouths, and speak not.'  No sooner had he
+said this than Mrs. Hinderer's boys burst into loud laughter, and
+shouted, in their own language, 'True, very true.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon after their temporary church&mdash;a large shed covered with palm
+leaves&mdash;had been completed and opened there came a period of trial.
+Mrs. Hinderer's horse stumbled and fell upon her, and although no bones
+were broken she found later that she had received an injury which
+troubled her until her death.  No sooner had she recovered from the
+shaking she had received, than her husband had a bad attack of fever.
+It was believed that he would die, but she nursed him day and night,
+and eventually had the great joy of seeing him recover.  But soon she
+was seriously ill.  Inflammation of the lungs set in, and for a time
+her life seemed to be drawing to a close, but she recovered, and was
+before long once more at work among the women and children.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was about this time that Mrs. Hinderer wrote to her Lowestoft
+friends:&mdash;'You will not think me egotistical, but this I do think, if I
+am come to Africa for nothing else, I have found the way to a few
+children's hearts, and, if spared, I think I shall not, with God's
+blessing, find it very difficult to do something with them.  My boys
+that I have now would never tell me an untruth, or touch a cowry or
+anything they should not.  This is truly wonderful in heathen boys,
+brought up all their lives, hitherto, in the midst of every kind of
+deceit.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a stay at Abeokuta for the benefit of her health, Anna Hinderer
+returned to Ibadan, to find the new church and mission-house finished.
+The natives had taken great interest in the building of the
+mission-house, and, soon after the Hinderers' return, the head chief,
+accompanied by his wives and a host of attendants, came to see it.
+They received a cordial welcome, but so many people swarmed into the
+house that Mr. Hinderer began to fear it would collapse, and had to
+keep out scores who wished to enter.  The chief found much to amuse him
+in this European-furnished house, and was immensely amused when for the
+first time he saw himself in a looking-glass.  His wives were shown
+round by Mrs. Hinderer, and arriving at the bed-room they pointed to a
+washstand and asked its use.  For reply Mrs. Hinderer poured out some
+water and washed her hands.  Now the chief's wives had never before
+seen soap, and to dry their hands after washing was a proceeding of
+which they had never heard; therefore each became anxious to there and
+then wash their hands in European fashion.  Water was splashed about
+the floor and wall, and when they wiped their hands the indigo dye from
+their clothes ruined the towel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Anna Hinderer, although frequently in bad health, continued her work
+among the children with unabated enthusiasm, and in November, 1885, she
+had the joy of seeing eight of them baptized.  Two months later the
+state of her health made it imperative that she should proceed to Lagos
+for a rest.  Her husband accompanied her, but both were eager to get
+back to their work, and were absent for only a few weeks.  But during
+that short time much had happened at Ibadan.  The natives had begun to
+persecute the converts, and some had forbidden their children to attend
+the church or mission-school.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One girl who refused to give up attending church was shamefully
+treated.  A rope was tied round her body, and she was dragged through
+the streets while the mob beat her with sticks and stoned her.  As she
+lay bleeding and half dead the native idols were brought out and placed
+before her.  'Now she bows down,' the mob cried; but the girl answered.
+'No, I do not; you have put me here.  I can never bow down to gods of
+wood and stone who cannot hear me.'  Eventually, after suffering
+ill-treatment daily, she ran away to Abeokuta.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the next seven months Anna Hinderer continued without ceasing to
+teach the children, nurse those who were sick, and adopt any little
+girl-baby who had been deserted by her inhuman parents.  Then Mr.
+Hinderer, after six months' illness, was stricken with yellow fever,
+and it became imperative that he should go to England for his health's
+sake.  On August 1, 1856, Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer sailed from Lagos for
+home.  And yet Anna Hinderer did not feel as if she were going home,
+but that she were leaving it, for Ibadan was beloved by her.  Husband
+and wife were in bad health throughout the voyage, and the captain's
+parting words to the latter as she went ashore at England were:&mdash;'You
+must not come to sea again; it cannot be your duty.  A few more voyages
+must kill you.'  Nevertheless, two years later, Anna Hinderer and her
+husband, restored in health, were back at Ibadan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two years of hard work followed.  The school was filled, the natives
+had ceased from persecuting the converts, and the prospects of
+missionary work were brighter than ever, when suddenly the news came
+that the fiendish King of Dahomey was marching on Abeokuta.  Mr. and
+Mrs. Hinderer were at Abeokuta when the news arrived, and at once they
+hastened back to Ibadan, although there was a danger of being captured
+and tortured by the invading force.  They reached Ibadan in safety,
+only, however, to find that the chief of that place was at war with the
+chief of Ijaye, a neighbouring town.  The place was full of excitement
+and a human sacrifice was offered, the victim, prior to the ceremony,
+walking proudly through the town.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Anna Hinderer and her husband could at first have made their way to the
+coast, but they decided to remain with their converts and pupils.  It
+was a bitter war, and soon the Hinderers were cut off from all
+communication with their fellow-missionaries in the Yoruba country.
+Supplies ran short, and they were compelled to sell their personal
+belongings to obtain food for themselves and the children.  'We sold a
+counterpane and a few yards of damask which had been overlooked by us;'
+runs an entry in Anna Hinderer's diary, 'so that we indulge every now
+and then in one hundred cowries' worth of meat (about one pennyworth),
+and such a morsel seems a little feast to us in these days.'  Many of
+the native women were exceedingly kind to Anna Hinderer in the time of
+privation.  The woman who had supplied them with milk insisted upon
+sending it regularly, although told that they had no money to pay for
+it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For four years the Hinderers were almost entirely cut off from
+communication with the outer world, but they continued their labours
+unceasingly throughout this trying time.  The girls' sewing class had,
+however, to be discontinued, for the very good reason that their stock
+of needles and cotton was exhausted.  It was a time of great privation,
+but Anna Hinderer, although frequently compelled to endure the gnawing
+pangs of hunger, always managed to keep her native children supplied
+with food.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last relief came.  The Governor of Lagos had made one or two
+unsuccessful attempts to relieve the Hinderers, and in April, 1865,
+devised a means of escape.  He despatched Captain Maxwell with a few
+trustworthy men, to cut a new track through the bush.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a difficult undertaking, but successfully accomplished, and one
+night, about ten o'clock, the Hinderers were surprised to see Captain
+Maxwell enter the mission-house.  He brought with him supplies, and
+also a hammock for Mrs. Hinderer's use on the return journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was somewhat of a surprise to the gallant officer to find that the
+missionaries for whom he had performed a difficult and dangerous
+journey were by no means anxious to return with him.  It was the more
+surprising as it was plain that both were in very bad health.  Mr.
+Hinderer declared that he could not possibly leave his mission at seven
+hours' notice, but he joined the captain in urging his wife to go,
+assuring her that it was her duty to do so.  At last she was prevailed
+upon to avail herself of the means of escape.  She was overcome with
+grief at leaving her husband shut up in Ibadan, and her distress was
+increased by her inability to say 'good-bye' to the little native
+children to whom she had acted a mother's part.  They were asleep, and
+to have awakened them would have been unwise, for there would certainly
+have been loud crying, had the little ones been told that their "white
+mother" was leaving them.  Their crying would have been heard beyond
+the mission-house compound, and the news of Mrs. Hinderer's approaching
+departure would have spread through the town, in which there were
+probably spies of the enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seven hours after Captain Maxwell arrived he began his dangerous return
+journey, his men carrying Mrs. Hinderer in the hammock.  They proceeded
+by forced marches, keeping at the same time a sharp look-out for the
+enemy, who would, they knew, promptly kill any Christian who fell into
+their power.  On several occasions they suddenly found themselves so
+close to the enemy that they could hear their voices, but, fortunately,
+they were not discovered.  On the third day, however, they heard that
+their departure had become known to the enemy, who was in hot pursuit.
+It was a terribly anxious time for the invalid missionary, but Captain
+Maxwell and his men were determined that she should not be captured.
+Silently and without halting once, even for food, they hurried on hour
+after hour, and finally arrived at Lagos, having done a six days'
+journey in less than three and a half.  So carefully had Captain
+Maxwell's men carried Anna Hinderer that she was little the worse for
+the journey, and after a few days' rest sailed for England.  Two months
+later her husband followed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the autumn of the following year Anna Hinderer and her husband
+returned to Ibadan, where they were received joyfully.  Anna Hinderer
+resumed her work with all her former enthusiasm and love, although she
+found before long that she had not sufficient strength to do all that
+she had done formerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two years later the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes decided to expel
+all white men from their territory, and they urged the Ibadan chiefs to
+adopt a similar policy.  The only white people in Ibadan were the
+missionaries, and these they refused to expel.  Announcing their
+decision to the Hinderers, the chiefs said: 'We have let you do your
+work, and we have done ours, but you little know how closely we have
+watched you.  Your ways please us.  We have not only looked at your
+mouths but at your hands, and we have no complaint to lay against you.
+Just go on with your work with a quiet mind; you are our friends, and
+we are yours.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another two years of hard work followed.  The schools were flourishing,
+and among the pupils were children of the little ones whom, many years
+previously, Anna Hinderer had taken into her home and cared for.  The
+chiefs continued to be friendly, and only one thing was wanting to make
+Anna Hinderer perfectly happy.  Frequent attacks of fever had so
+weakened her that she began to feel that the work was beyond her
+strength.  Her husband, too, was never free from pain.  They recognised
+that they could not live much longer in Africa.  Gladly they would have
+remained and died at Ibadan, but for the knowledge that their work
+could now be better carried on by younger missionaries.  So with a sad
+heart Anna Hinderer bade farewell to the people among whom she had
+bravely toiled for seventeen years.  She had lost the sight of one eye,
+and the specialist whom she consulted in London assured her that had
+she remained much longer in Africa she would have become totally blind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although in a very weak state of health Anna Hinderer was not content
+to remain idle, and in her native county of Norfolk began to interest
+herself in factory girls and other children of the poor.  She was
+always cheerful, and few people knew how much she was suffering from
+the effects of years of hard work and privation in a pestilential
+country.  She died on June 6, 1870, aged forty-three; and when the sad
+news reached Ibadan there was great sorrow in the town, and the
+Christian Church which she had helped to plant there forwarded to her
+husband a letter of consolation and thankfulness for the work which she
+had done among them.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0203"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ANN JUDSON, PIONEER WOMAN IN BURMA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Ann Judson was not only the first American woman to enter the foreign
+mission field, but also the first lady missionary, or missionary's
+wife, to visit Rangoon.  She was the daughter of Mr. John Hasseltine,
+of Bradford, Massachusetts, and was born on December 22, 1789.  When
+nearly seventeen years of age she became deeply impressed by the
+preaching of a local minister, and decided to do all in her power
+towards spreading the Gospel.  Sunday Schools had been started in
+America about 1791, but they were very few.  Bradford did not possess
+one, and probably it was not known there that such schools existed
+anywhere.  Ann Hasseltine, being desirous of instructing the children
+in religious knowledge, adopted the only course which occurred to her
+as likely to lead to success; she became a teacher in an ordinary day
+school.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she had been engaged in this and other Christian work about four
+years, she made the acquaintance of Adoniram Judson, a young man who
+had recently been accepted for work in the East Indies, by the newly
+formed American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.  Before
+they had known each other many months, Judson asked Ann Hasseltine to
+become his wife and accompany him to India.  He did not conceal from
+her that in all probability her life as a missionary's wife would be
+full of hardships and trials, but, after considering the matter for
+some days, she promised to marry him, providing that her father gave
+his consent.  Judson wrote to Mr. Hasseltine, and after stating that he
+had asked his daughter to become his wife, and that she had consented,
+continued: 'I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your
+daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether
+you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection
+to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can
+consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal
+influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and
+distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent
+death.  Can you consent to all this for the sake of Him who left His
+heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing
+immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?  Can you
+consent to all this, in the hope of soon meeting your daughter in the
+world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the
+acclamation of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens
+saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Hasseltine gave his consent, and on February 5, 1812, his daughter
+was married to Adoniram Judson.  It had now become known throughout the
+United States that Mrs. Judson intended to accompany her husband to the
+mission field, and in all quarters her intention was denounced.  She
+was accused of being both imprudent and lacking in modesty.  These
+attacks caused Ann Judson considerable pain, but they did not weaken
+her determination to accompany her husband.  They sailed for India on
+February 12, and landed at Calcutta on June 18.  On the voyage they had
+for fellow passengers some Baptist missionaries, and the result of
+their intercourse with them was that ten days after their arrival at
+Calcutta they were baptised.  By this step they lost the support of the
+Board of Commissioners who had sent them out, but aid was soon sent
+them by the American Baptists.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Missionary work in India was almost at a standstill when the Judsons
+arrived at Calcutta.  The East India Company had issued an order,
+withdrawn, however, in the following year, forbidding missionaries to
+carry on their work in the Company's territory.  The Judsons received
+notice to depart before they had been in the country many months, and
+were undecided where to go.  They were anxious to settle in Rangoon,
+but everyone assured them that Lower Burma was not yet ripe for
+missionary work.  The Burmese were described to them as little better
+than fiends, and stories were told of Europeans who had met with
+torture and death at their hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, the Judsons sailed for Rangoon, and in July, 1813, were
+ascending the Rangoon River, delighted with their first glimpse of the
+country.  On either side of the mighty river was dense jungle,
+extending far inland.  Here and there along the banks were small
+fishing villages, with quaint little wooden huts built on tall poles to
+prevent their being flooded or invaded by tigers, cheetahs or snakes.
+Near every village were several pagodas whose spires rose above the
+jungle; and there were many pagodas standing far from any habitation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the Judsons drew near to Rangoon they saw on the hill, near by, the
+great Shway Dagon Pagoda with its tall, gilded spire shining in the sun
+with a brilliancy that was dazzling.  But soon they turned from gazing
+at the Mecca of the Burmese Buddhists to view the town, a big
+collection of bamboo and mat huts protected by forts with guns, which
+the people fondly believed would utterly destroy any foreign fleet
+which dared to ascend the river.  Many trading vessels were riding at
+anchor off the city, and canoes of various sizes and design were
+passing to and from them.  It was a busy scene, made bright by the
+gorgeous turbans of the rowers, and the brilliant attire of high
+officials.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. and Mrs. Judson landed at Rangoon not only unmolested, but with a
+friendly greeting from the natives.  These swarmed round them smiling
+pleasantly, and exhibiting none of the appearances of
+atrocity-perpetrators.  The women were greatly interested in Mrs.
+Judson, and when she smiled at them they laughed merrily.  This
+unexpectedly pleasant reception greatly cheered the Judsons, and made
+them eager to begin work.  But before they could do this they had to
+learn the Burmese language, not a word of which they knew.  They could
+not obtain an interpreter, for the reason that no one, with the
+exception of a few merchants, understood English.  The European
+merchants who at that time lived in Burma were, with scarcely an
+exception, men of poor character.  A missionary was the last person
+these men would welcome or help.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having settled down in their home, Mr. and Mrs. Judson began to learn
+the Burmese language, a difficult task, considering that they had
+neither dictionary nor grammar to assist them.  Mrs. Judson, having to
+buy food and superintend her servants, soon learnt a few Burmese
+sentences, but her husband was learning the language scientifically,
+with the intention of eventually translating the Bible into Burmese.
+When both knew sufficient Burmese to make themselves understood, they
+engaged teachers to help them with their studies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two years passed, and Mr. and Mrs. Judson were still learning the
+language.  In September, 1815, a son was born to them, but to their
+great grief he died eight months later, through want of medical
+attention.  When the child was buried, some forty Burmese and
+Portuguese followed the body to the grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In December, 1815, Mr. and Mrs. Judson began to make known to the
+people the Gospel they had come to Burma to preach.  Until then they
+had wisely refrained from doing so, knowing that mistakes they might
+make in their speech would bring ridicule upon their religion.  But now
+that they were confident of their knowledge of the language they
+started hopefully on the work of winning converts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The time to which they had long looked forward had arrived, but the
+success which they had expected was not achieved.  The natives listened
+attentively to everything Mr. or Mrs. Judson said to them, but their
+answer was usually, 'Our religion is good for us, yours for you.'  Some
+laughed, good-humouredly, at the idea of the missionaries expecting
+them to give up the religion of their forefathers for that of the white
+<I>kalas</I>[<A NAME="chap0203fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0203fn1">1</A>] from across the sea, and others declared that they were mad.
+No one, however, suggested that they should be forbidden to attempt to
+gain converts.  It did not seem worth while interfering with them; for
+what Burman living in sight of the Shway Dagon Pagoda, and near to the
+monasteries where he had learnt the precepts of Guatama Buddha, would
+even think of forsaking his religion?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This indifference of the Burmese was very disheartening to the Judsons,
+and when a year had passed without their having made the slightest
+impression upon any native they might well have been discouraged.  But
+this was far from being the case, and in October, 1816, they were able
+to look forward with still greater confidence to seeing their labour
+crowned with success.  The printing press which they had long been
+expecting arrived, and two Burmese tracts which Mr. Judson had prepared
+were printed and circulated.  One was a clear explanation of
+Christianity, the other a translation of the Gospel according to
+Matthew.  The result of the wide distribution of these tracts was not
+such as the Judsons had expected.  One or two Burmans made a few
+enquiries concerning the subject of the tracts, but when their
+curiosity was satisfied they showed no further interest in the matter.
+Three years of steady hard work followed.  Mrs. Judson continued her
+efforts to win the women, and gathered around her every Sunday a large
+number to whom she read the Scriptures.  Her husband had in the
+meanwhile finished his dictionary of the Burmese language, a work for
+which successive generations of British officials, merchants and
+missionaries have had cause to be thankful, and in 1819 began to preach
+on Sundays.  Hitherto he had been speaking to individuals; now he
+addressed himself to crowds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The place in which he preached was a <I>zayat</I> or rest-house, a big
+one-room building erected for the convenience of pilgrims who came to
+worship at the Shway Dagon Pagoda.  There was no furniture in the
+place, and the pilgrims, or any one else who cared to enter, squatted
+on the floor, or, if tired, lay down and slept.  Here, before a crowd
+of men, women, and children, all, from the old men of seventy to
+children of three or four, smoking big green cheroots, Mr. Judson
+preached Sunday after Sunday, and on April 30, 1819, made his first
+convert.  Two months later, on June 27, the convert was baptized.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Judsons, refreshed by the knowledge that their six years' toil in a
+sweltering, unhealthy country had not been wasted, continued their work
+joyfully, and soon had further cause for thankfulness.  Several natives
+were baptized, and the Judsons had every reason for believing that
+their little band of Christians would increase rapidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then their work received an unexpected check.  The news reached Rangoon
+that the King of Burma was highly displeased at the conversion of his
+subjects, and intended to punish both missionaries and converts.  No
+sooner was this known than the Judsons were deserted by all but their
+converts; the people who had flocked to hear Mr. Judson preach in the
+<I>zayat</I> no longer went there, and the women ceased to attend Mrs.
+Judson's gatherings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Judson suspected that the threats emanated from the Governor of
+Rangoon, and not from the king, and, therefore, he started off,
+accompanied by a young missionary who had recently joined him, to the
+capital, to ask the king to prohibit any interference with them or
+their converts.  His majesty not only received them graciously, but
+promised, if Mr. Judson would come with his wife and settle in the
+capital, to give them his protection and a piece of ground on which to
+build a church.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Judson's ill-health prevented their accepting that invitation at
+once.  Besides attending to her domestic duties and her native classes
+she had learnt the Siamese language, and with the aid of a native had
+translated into Siamese her husband's Burmese tracts.  The Burmese
+territory in the Malay peninsula had formerly belonged to Siam, and
+after its annexation to Burma many of the Siamese came to live at
+Rangoon.  Several thousands resided there at the beginning of the
+nineteenth century, and it was that they might hear the Gospel that
+Mrs. Judson learnt their language.  Suffering from over-work and the
+unhealthiness of the city&mdash;in those days Rangoon was a pestilential
+place&mdash;Mrs. Judson sailed for Calcutta, and proceeded to Serampore.
+She was back again in January, 1821, after six months' absence, but
+during the long rainy season she had such a severe attack of fever that
+it was evident that to save her life she would have to return to
+America for a complete rest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After two years in America she returned to Rangoon in good health; and
+Mr. Judson now decided to avail themselves of the King of Burma's
+invitation to settle at Ava.  Leaving the Rangoon mission in charge of
+his assistant missionaries, he started with Mrs. Judson on the long
+journey up the Irrawaddy to the capital.  But before they had proceeded
+far war broke out between England and Burma.  The Burmese were
+possessed of the belief that they were the greatest military power in
+the world, and, confident that they had nothing to fear from the
+English, encroached upon the possessions of the East India Company.
+Other acts of aggression followed, and the Company decided upon
+reprisals.  Several battles were fought on the frontier, and the
+Burmese under Bandoola won two or three victories.  Mr. and Mrs. Judson
+on their journey up the Irrawaddy met Bandoola proceeding in great
+state to take command of his army.  They were questioned by the Burmese
+general's men, but on explaining that they were not British subjects
+but Americans, and that they were proceeding to Ava by command of the
+king, they were allowed to continue their journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On arriving at Ava the king and queen treated Mr. Judson very coldly,
+and did not enquire after Mrs. Judson, whom they had previously desired
+to see.  This was a discouraging beginning for their new work, but the
+Judsons settled down to it, praying that the war might soon be ended.
+But the end was far off.  On May 23, 1824, the news reached Ava that an
+English force had captured Rangoon.  It had apparently not occurred to
+the Burmese that the English might attack them elsewhere than on the
+frontier, and the news of their success filled them with amazement and
+indignation.  An army was despatched at once with orders to drive out
+the invaders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The king now became suspicious of Mr. Judson.  He knew that the
+missionary had declared that he was not a British subject, but America
+was a land of which he knew nothing.  The only white nations of which
+he had any knowledge were England and France, and he was under the
+impression that after the downfall of Napoleon the French had become
+British subjects.  His courtiers were equally suspicious of Mr. Judson,
+and one managed to discover that he had recently received some money
+from Bengal.  This money was a remittance from America which had been
+forwarded through a Bengal merchant, but the king and his advisers at
+once came to the conclusion that Mr. Judson was a spy in the employ of
+the English.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An order for his arrest was issued immediately, and an officer,
+accompanied by a 'spotted face,' or public executioner, and a dozen men
+proceeded to the Judsons' house.  The 'spotted face' rushing in flung
+Mr. Judson to the ground and began to bind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In terrible distress Mrs. Judson besought the officer to set her
+husband free, but all the notice he took of her was to have her
+secured.  When the ropes had been tightly bound around Mr. Judson the
+'spotted face' dragged him out of the house.  'Spotted faces' were
+almost invariably criminals who had been sentenced to the most degraded
+of duties&mdash;executing their fellow men.  So that they should not escape
+from the work to which they were condemned, small rings were tattoed on
+their cheeks, forehead and chin.  Loathed by all classes, the 'spotted
+faces' treated with great barbarity all who came professionally into
+their power.  The man who had bound Mr. Judson made the missionary's
+journey to the prison as uncomfortable as possible.  Every twenty or
+thirty yards he threw him to the ground, and dragged him along for a
+short distance with his face downwards.  On arriving at the prison
+allotted to men sentenced to death, Mr. Judson was fettered with iron
+chains and tied to a long pole, so that he could not move.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Judson was left at her home, with a number of soldiers outside to
+prevent her escaping.  But these men were not satisfied with keeping
+her prisoner; they added to her misery by taunting her, and threatening
+her with a horrible death.  For two days she endured this agony, but on
+the third she obtained permission to visit her husband.  Heavily
+fettered, Mr. Judson crawled to the prison door, but after they had
+spoken a few words the jailors roughly drove her away.  She had,
+however, seen enough of the prison to make it clear to her that her
+husband would die if he were not speedily removed from it.  By paying
+the jailors a sum of money she managed to get him removed to an open
+shed in the prison enclosure.  He was still fettered, but the shed was
+far healthier than the prison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having attained this slight relief for her husband, Mrs. Judson now did
+all in her power to obtain his release.  She called in turn on the
+various members of the royal family and the high officials, assuring
+them that her husband had done nothing to deserve imprisonment, and
+asking for his release.  Many of the people were sympathetic, but none
+dared ask the king to set the missionary free, for his majesty was
+infuriated by the news which reached him, now and again, of the success
+of the invaders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, in the autumn, Bandoola arrived at Ava.  He had been summoned
+from the frontier to proceed towards Rangoon to drive out the British,
+and on arriving at Ava he was received with wild enthusiasm.  Even the
+king treated him with respect, and allowed him to have a free hand.
+Mrs. Judson, seeing Bandoola's power, determined to appeal to him for
+her husband's release.  She was given an audience, and after hearing
+her petition, Bandoola promised that he would consider the matter, and
+dismissed her with the command to come again to hear his decision.  The
+gracious manner in which she had been received filled Mrs. Judson with
+hope, but on calling for Bandoola's reply two days later she was
+received by his wife, who said that her husband was very busy preparing
+to start for Rangoon; as soon as he had driven out the English he would
+return and release all the prisoners.  It was a terrible
+disappointment, but Mrs. Judson did not break down, although her health
+was far from good.  She continued doing as she had done for many
+months, trudging two miles to the prison with her husband's food and
+walking back in the dark.  Every morning she feared to find that her
+husband had been murdered, for the news of the British successes
+continued to reach Ava, and the people were in a state of excitement,
+and continually vowing vengeance on the white <I>kalas</I>.  However, her
+worst fears were not realised.  Her husband remained in chains, but, as
+he was not treated very harshly, she began to hope that the Burmese
+would release him when the war was ended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the end of the war was a long way off, and in the middle of
+February it became known that the English had quitted Rangoon and were
+marching to Ava.  Mr. Judson was immediately taken from his shed and
+flung into the common prison&mdash;one room occupied by over a hundred
+prisoners&mdash;loaded with five pairs of fetters.  It was the hot season,
+and Mr. and Mrs. Judson knew that he could not live long in that place.
+Indeed, he was quickly attacked with fever, and Mrs. Judson, growing
+desperate, so persistently implored the governor to allow her to remove
+him that at last he consented.  Mr. Judson was removed speedily to a
+small bamboo hut in the courtyard, where, made comfortable and nursed
+by his wife, he recovered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meanwhile Bandoola had been killed in action, and his successor
+appointed.  The latter was a man of fiendish tastes, and he decided
+before proceeding down the Irrawaddy to take up his command, to remove
+the prisoners from Ava, and have them tortured in his presence.  So Mr.
+Judson and two or three white traders were taken away to Amarapoora.
+Mrs. Judson was absent when her husband was removed, and when she
+returned and found him gone she feared that what she had been long
+dreading had happened&mdash;that her husband had been killed.  The governor
+and the jailors protested, untruthfully, that they did not know what
+had become of him; but at last Mrs. Judson discovered where he had been
+taken, and started off with her few months' old baby and her native
+nurse-girl to find him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Travelling first by river and then by bullock-cart, she arrived to find
+her husband in a pitiable state of health, caused by the ill-treatment
+he had received from his warders on the march from Ava.  He was in a
+high fever, his feet were terribly swollen, and his body covered with
+bruises.  Mrs. Judson obtained permission to nurse him, but on the same
+day her child and nurse-girl developed small-pox.  She nursed all three
+patients, and to her great joy they all recovered.  But the strain on
+her fever-weakened strength had been great, and she felt that her life
+was quickly drawing to a close.  But she bore up bravely, and journeyed
+to Ava to fetch her medicine chest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Neither she nor her husband knew of the intention of the Burmese
+general.  It was never carried out, for he was suspected of high
+treason, and promptly executed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Time passed, and the King of Burma becoming alarmed at the advance of
+the English towards his capital, sent his representatives to treat with
+them.  Mr. Judson accompanied them to act as interpreter.  He was not
+in fetters, but he was still a prisoner.  On his return he found that
+his wife had been again ill with fever, and had been delirious for many
+days.  But the prospect of peace being soon declared cheered the
+much-tried missionaries, and gave them fresh strength.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The terms offered by the English general had been refused by the King
+of Burma; but when he found that the enemy would soon be at his capital
+he quickly agreed to them, and sent the first instalment of the
+indemnity down river to the victors.  Mr. Judson was sent with the
+Burmese officers to act as interpreter, and when the money had been
+handed over to the English he was set free, after having undergone
+twenty-one months' imprisonment, during seventeen of which he was in
+fetters.  That he had managed to live through that long imprisonment
+was due to his wife's bravery and devoted attention.  She had suffered
+more than he, and her constitution, ruined by fever, privation, and
+anxiety, was unable to withstand the illness which attacked her soon
+after she had settled down again to missionary work.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She died on October 24, 1826, aged 37, and the husband whom she loved
+so dearly was not at her bedside.  He was acting as interpreter to the
+Governor-General of India's embassy to the court of Ava, and did not
+hear of her illness until she was dead.  The baby girl who had been
+born in the midst of sad surroundings only lived for a few months after
+her mother's death.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0203fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0203fn1text">1</A>] Foreigners
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0204"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SARAH JUDSON, PIONEER WOMAN IN BURMA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The boy or the girl who does not at an early age announce what he or
+she intends to be when 'grown up,' must be a somewhat extraordinary
+child.  The peer's son horrifies his nurse by declaring that he intends
+to be an engine-driver when he is 'grown up,' and the postman's wife
+hears with not a little amusement that her boy has decided to be Lord
+Mayor of London.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+These early aspirations are rarely achieved, but there are some notable
+instances of children remaining true to their ambition and becoming, in
+time, what they had declared they would be.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sarah Hall, when quite a little child, announced her intention of
+becoming a missionary, and a missionary she eventually became.  She was
+born at Alstead, New Hampshire, in 1803, her parents being Ralph and
+Abiah Hall.  They were refined and well-educated, but by no means
+wealthy, and Sarah would have left school very young, had not the
+head-mistress, seeing that she was a clever child, retained her as
+pupil teacher.  Quiet, gentle, and caring little for the amusements of
+girls of her own age, her chief pleasure was in composing verse, much
+of which is still in existence.  The following lines are from her
+'Versification of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan,' which was
+written when she was thirteen years of age:&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+The beauty of Israel for ever is fled,<BR>
+And low lie the noble and strong:<BR>
+Ye daughters of music, encircle the dead<BR>
+And chant the funereal song.<BR>
+Oh, never let Gath know their sorrowful doom,<BR>
+Nor Askelon hear of their fate;<BR>
+Their daughters would scoff while we lay in the tomb,<BR>
+The relics of Israel's great.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+At an early age, as already stated, she expressed a wish to be a
+missionary to the heathen, and the wish grew stronger with increasing
+years.  But suddenly it became evident to her that there was plenty of
+work waiting for her close at hand.  'Sinners perishing all around me,'
+she wrote in her journal, 'and I almost panting to tell the far heathen
+of Christ!  Surely this is wrong.  I will no longer indulge the vain,
+foolish wish, but endeavour to be useful in the position where
+Providence has placed me.  I can pray for deluded idolaters and for
+those who labour among them, and this is a privilege indeed.'  She
+began at once to take an active part in local mission work; but while
+thus employed her interest in foreign missions did not diminish, and
+the death of the two young missionaries, Wheelock and Colman, who went
+to Burma to assist Mr. Judson, made a deep impression on her.
+Wheelock, while delirious from fever, jumped into the sea and was
+drowned, and Colman, after a time, died at Arracan from the effects of
+the unhealthy climate.  On hearing of Colman's death she wrote 'Lines
+on the death of Colman,' the first verse of which is:&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+'Tis the voice of deep sorrow from India's shore,<BR>
+The flower of our Churches is withered and dead,<BR>
+The gem that shone brightly will sparkle no more,<BR>
+And the tears of the Christian profusely are shed.<BR>
+Two youths of Columbia, with hearts glowing warm,<BR>
+Embarked on the billows far distant to rove,<BR>
+To bear to the nations all wrapped in thick gloom,<BR>
+The lamp of the Gospel&mdash;the message of love.<BR>
+But Wheelock now slumbers beneath the cold wave<BR>
+And Colman lies low in the dark, cheerless grave,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3em">Mourn, daughters of India, mourn!</SPAN><BR>
+The rays of that star, clear and bright,<BR>
+That so sweetly on Arracan shone,<BR>
+Are shrouded in black clouds of night,<BR>
+For Colman is gone!<BR>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+These lines were read by George Dana Boardman, a young man, twenty-four
+years of age, who had just been appointed to succeed Colman at Arracan.
+He obtained an introduction to Sarah Hall, and in a short time they
+became engaged.  They were married on July 3, 1825, and thirteen days
+later sailed for Calcutta, where they landed on December 2.  The war in
+Burma prevented their proceeding to Rangoon, so they settled down at
+Calcutta, to study the Burmese language with the aid of Mr. Judson's
+books.  At this they were engaged almost continuously until the spring
+of 1827, when they sailed for Amherst, in Tenasserim, a newly built
+town in the recently acquired British territory, to which Mr. Judson
+had removed with his converts soon after the conclusion of the war.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Boardmans' stay at Amherst was, however, short.  Towards the end of
+May they were transferred to another new city&mdash;Moulmein.  A year before
+their arrival the place had been a wide expanse of almost impenetrable
+jungle; now it had 20,000 inhabitants.  Wild beasts and deadly snakes
+abounded in the jungle around the city and, across the river, in the
+ruined city of Martaban, dwelt a horde of fiendish dacoits, who
+occasionally made a night raid on Moulmein, robbing and murdering, and
+then hurrying back to their stronghold.  The Boardmans had been settled
+in their bamboo hut barely a month when they received a visit from the
+dacoits.  One night Mr. Boardman awoke, to find that the little lamp
+which they always kept burning was not alight, and suspecting that
+something was wrong he jumped out of bed and lit it again.  The dacoits
+had entered, and stolen everything they could possibly carry off.
+Looking-glasses, watches, knives, forks, spoons, and keys had all
+disappeared.  Every box, trunk, and chest of drawers had been forced
+open, and nothing of any value remained in any of them.  This was the
+first home of their own that the Boardmans had ever had, and to be
+robbed so soon of practically everything they possessed was indeed
+hard.  They had, however, the satisfaction of knowing that the dacoits
+had not, as usual, accompanied robbery with murder.  But that the
+dacoits would have murdered them had they awoke while they were
+plundering was plain.  Two holes had been cut in the mosquito curtain
+near to where Mr. and Mrs. Boardman and their one-year-old child lay,
+and by these holes dacoits had evidently stood, knife in hand, ready to
+stab the sleepers if they awoke.  It was a great shock to Mrs.
+Boardman, who was in bad health, but soon she was joining her husband
+in thanking God for having protected them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the robbery the officer commanding the British troops stationed
+two sepoys outside the mission house, and some idea of the dangers
+which surrounded the Boardmans may be formed from the fact that one day
+the sentry was attacked by a tiger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But, exposed as the Boardmans were to perils of this kind, they
+continued their work among the rapidly increasing population, and met
+with considerable success.  Many native Christians, converted under Mr.
+Judson at Rangoon, lived at Moulmein, and consequently the Boardmans'
+work was not entirely among the unconverted.  Indeed, before long
+nearly all the native Christians in Burma were residing at Moulmein,
+Amherst having declined in public favour.  When the majority of the
+inhabitants of Amherst migrated to Moulmein the missionaries
+accompanied them, and soon nearly all the missionaries to Burma were
+working in one city.  Neither the missionary board in America nor Mr.
+Judson considered this to be wise, and some of the missionaries were
+removed to other places, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman being sent to Tavoy,
+some 150 miles south of Moulmein.  The dialect of the people of Tavoy
+differed considerably from Burmese, and the Boardmans had practically
+to learn a new language.  As the written characters of both languages
+were the same, the task was not very difficult, and before long the
+missionaries were preaching the Gospel to the Tavoyans.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon after they had settled down some Karens invited Mr. Boardman to
+visit them.  Their country was not far away, but the missionary could
+not as yet leave Tavoy.  The Karens, however, told him something that
+excited his curiosity.  A foreigner passing through the land had given
+them a book, and told them to worship it.  They had done so.  A
+high-priest had been appointed, and he had arranged a regular form of
+worship, Mr. Boardman asked the Karens to let him see the book, and
+they promised to bring it to him.  Soon a deputation, headed by the
+high-priest, attired in a fantastic dress of his own designing, arrived
+at Tavoy with the book, which was carefully wrapped up and carried in a
+basket.  On having the book handed to him Mr. Boardman saw that it was
+a Church of England Prayer-book.  He told the Karens that although it
+was a very good book it was not intended to be worshipped, and they
+consented to give it to him in exchange for some portions of Scripture
+in a language they could read.  It was never discovered who gave the
+Prayer-book to the Karens, but it may be taken for granted that they
+misunderstood the donor's meaning.  This book was afterwards sent home
+to the American Baptist Missionary Society.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On July 8, 1829, Mrs. Boardman was plunged into grief by the death of
+her little daughter, aged two years and eight months.  Other troubles
+followed quickly.  One night Mrs. Boardman was awakened by hearing some
+native Christians shouting, 'Teacher, teacher, Tavoy rebels!'  The
+inhabitants of Tavoy had revolted against the British Government, and
+had attempted to seize the powder magazine and armoury.  The Sepoys had
+driven off the rebels, who were, however, far from being disheartened.
+They burst open the prison, set free the prisoners, and began firing on
+the mission house.  Bullets passed through the fragile little
+dwelling-place, and the Boardmans would soon have been killed had not
+some Sepoys fought their way to their assistance, with orders to remove
+them to Government House.  As Mrs. Boardman with her baby boy in her
+arms hurried through the howling mob of rebels she had several narrow
+escapes from being shot, but fortunately the whole of the little party
+from the mission house reached Government House in safety.  The
+Governor of Tavoy was away when the rebellion broke out, and as the
+steamer in which he had departed was the only means of rapid
+communication between Tavoy and Moulmein, the little British force
+settled down to act on the defensive until reinforcements arrived.
+Soon it was found that Government House would have to be evacuated, and
+eventually the British and Americans took shelter in a six-room house
+on the wharf.  In this small house the whole of the white population,
+the soldiers, and the native Christians were sheltered.  The rebels,
+strongly reinforced, attempted to burn them out, but a heavy downfall
+of rain extinguished the flames before much harm had been done.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, to the great relief of the defenders, the governor's steamer
+was seen approaching.  The governor was considerably surprised to find
+the natives in revolt.  Immediately after his arrival he sent his wife
+and Mrs. Boardman aboard the steamer, which was to hurry to Moulmein
+for reinforcements.  Mrs. Boardman begged to be allowed to remain and
+share the danger which was threatening both the whites and the native
+converts, but the governor firmly refused to allow her to do so.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As soon as the rebellion was quelled Mrs. Boardman returned to Tavoy
+and resumed her work, but troubles now came upon her quickly.  On
+December 2, 1830, her baby boy died, making the second child she had
+lost within twelve months.  Her husband, too, was in very weak health,
+although still working hard.  On March 7, 1831, he reported that he had
+baptized fifty-seven Karens within two months, and that other baptisms
+would soon follow.  But the latter he did not live to see, for he died
+of consumption three weeks after writing his report.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Europeans at Tavoy considered it natural and proper that, now Mrs.
+Boardman was a widow, she should, return to America, and they were
+somewhat surprised when she announced her intention of remaining at
+Tavoy.  'My beloved husband,' she wrote, 'wore out his life in this
+glorious cause; and that remembrance makes me more than even attached
+to the work and the people for whose salvation he laboured till death.'
+As far as possible she took up the duties of her late husband, and
+every day from sunrise until ten o'clock at night she was hard at work.
+Her duties included periodical visits to the Karen villages.  This was
+a most unpleasant work for a refined woman, and from the fact that she
+scarcely ever alluded to these visits we may conclude that she found
+them extremely trying.  But, as there was no man to undertake the work
+which her late husband had carried on with conspicuous success, she
+knew unless she did it herself a promising field of missionary
+enterprise would be uncared for.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Preaching, teaching and visiting was not, however, the only work in
+which the young widow engaged.  She translated into Burmese the
+<I>Pilgrim's Progress</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Adoniram Judson and Mrs. Boardman had known each other from the day the
+latter arrived in Burma, and the former, as the head of the
+missionaries in that country, was well aware of Mrs. Boardman's
+devotion to duty.  On January 31, 1834, he completed his translation of
+the Scriptures, and on April 10 he and Mrs. Boardman were married.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Sarah Judson's home was now once more in Moulmein, and into the
+work there she threw herself at once heart and soul.  She superintended
+schools, held Bible classes and prayer meetings and started various
+societies for the spiritual and physical welfare of the women.  Finding
+that there was a large number of Peguans in Moulmein, she learnt their
+language, and translated into it several of her husband's tracts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Until 1841 her life was peacefully happy, but in that year a period of
+trouble began.  Her four children were attacked with whooping-cough,
+which was followed by dysentery, the complaint which in Burma has sent
+many thousands of Europeans to early graves.  No sooner had the
+children recovered from this distressing illness than Mrs. Sarah Judson
+fell ill with it, and for a time it was feared that she was dying.  As
+soon as she was able to travel Mr. Judson took her to India, in the
+hope that a complete rest at Serampore would give her back her
+strength.  She returned in fairly good health, but in December, 1844,
+she grew so weak that Mr. Judson decided to have his first furlough,
+and take her home to America.  On the voyage she grew worse, and died
+peacefully while the ship was at anchor at St. Helena.  She was buried
+on shore, and Adoniram Judson, a widower a second time, proceeded on
+his journey to America.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0205"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OLIVIA OGREN AND AN ESCAPE FROM BOXERS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The Chinese dislike to foreigners settling in their country is so old
+that one cannot tell when it began.  But in 1900 the Boxer rising
+proved that the anti-foreign feeling is strong as ever, and perhaps
+more unreasonable, and the whole civilized world was horror-stricken by
+the news of the massacre of men, women and children, who had been
+slaughtered, not only because they were Christians, but because they
+were foreigners.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The list of missionaries who were murdered by the Boxers in 1900 is
+long and saddening; but it is some consolation to know that to many of
+the martyrs death came swiftly, and was not preceded by bodily torture.
+In fact, some of the missionaries who escaped death must have been
+sorely tempted to envy their martyred colleagues, so terrible were the
+trials they underwent before reaching a place of safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Ogren was one of the representatives of the China Inland Mission,
+who escaped death only to meet perils and privations such as few women
+have ever survived.  She and her husband had worked in China for seven
+years, and had been stationed for about twelve months in the city of
+Yung-ning when the Boxer troubles began.  Until then the natives had
+been well disposed towards them, but two emissaries of the Boxers,
+describing themselves as merchants, spread evil reports concerning
+them.  They declared that the missionaries had poisoned the wells, and
+when the people went to examine them they found that the water had
+turned red.  The men who accused the missionaries had, before bringing
+this charge against them, secretly coloured the water.  Other false
+accusations, artfully supported by what appeared to be conclusive
+evidence, were made against them, and naturally aroused the anger of
+the people, whose demeanour became unmistakably threatening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On July 5 the sad news of the murder of two lady missionaries at
+Hsiao-i reached Mrs. Ogren and her husband, and a mandarin, who had
+secretly remained friendly towards them, urged them to escape from the
+city as soon as possible, and for their travelling expenses the
+secretary of the yamên brought them, in the middle of the night, Tls.
+10 (£15).  Mr. Ogren gave a receipt for the money, and prepared for
+their flight, but it was not until July 13 that they were able to start.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Early in the morning, before day-break, a mule-litter was brought to
+the back door of the mission garden.  Quickly and silently Mr. and Mrs.
+Ogren, with their little nine months' old boy, mounted, and started on
+their perilous journey to Han-kow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They arrived uninjured at the Yellow River, where, however, they found
+a famine-stricken crowd, armed with clubs, eager to kill them.  The
+starving natives had been told, and believed, that the scarcity of food
+was due to the foreigners' presence in China, and their hostile
+attitude can scarcely be wondered at.  However, the guard which had
+been sent to protect the missionaries succeeded in keeping off the
+people, who had to content themselves with yelling and spitting at the
+fugitives.  Hiring a boat, for which they had to pay Tls. 50, the
+Ogrens and their guard started down river for T'ung-kuan.  The current
+of this river is exceedingly swift, and the missionaries expected every
+moment that their boat would be wrecked.  No mishap occurred, however,
+and after travelling seventeen miles the party made a halt.  It was
+necessary to do so, as at this place they were to be handed over to a
+new guard.  Here, too, they found it would be impossible to proceed on
+their journey without more money, and a messenger was despatched to the
+mandarin at Yung-ning, asking for a further loan.  Until the result of
+this appeal was known there was nothing for the Ogrens to do but wait
+where they were.  It was an anxious time, but on the fourth day they
+were delighted to see the secretary of the yamên approaching.  He had
+brought with him the money they required.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Praising God for all His goodness,' Mrs. Ogren writes in her account
+of their trials,[<A NAME="chap0205fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0205fn1">1</A>] 'we started once more, and though beset by many
+difficulties, the goodness of God, and the cordial letter of
+recommendation granted us by our friendly mandarin, enabled us to
+safely reach a place called Lung-wan-chan, 170 miles from our
+starting-place, and half way to our destination, T'ung-kuan.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At Lung-wan-chan they heard of the rapid spread of the Boxer movement,
+and of the massacre, on July 16, of a party of men and women
+missionaries.  They realised now that the prospect of their escaping
+the fury of the Boxers was small; but there came a ray of hope, when a
+Chinaman, eighty years of age and a friend of the Yung-ning mandarin,
+offered to hide them in his house.  It was an offer which was
+gratefully accepted; but as they were about to start for their
+hiding-place, which was some twenty-five miles from the river, a party
+of soldiers arrived.  Their orders were, they said, to drive the
+foreigners out of the province; but the aged Chinaman gave them a
+feast, and, having got them into a good humour, extracted a promise
+from them that they would not harm the missionaries.  But although they
+kept their promise to the extent of not doing them any bodily injury,
+they took from them all the money they possessed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the soldiers had departed, the Ogrens started on their twenty-five
+miles' journey to the friendly old Chinaman's house, thankful at having
+escaped one danger, and hopeful that they would reach their destination
+in safety.  But their hope was not realised.  Before they had gone far,
+their way lay along a track where it was necessary to proceed in single
+file.  Mrs. Ogren, riding a mule, led the way; a second mule carrying
+their personal belongings followed, and Mr. Ogren with their baby-boy
+in his arms came last.  On one side of them was the rushing river; on
+the other, steep, rocky mountains.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly a number of armed men sprang out from behind the rocks and
+barred their way.  Brandishing their weapons ominously, they demanded
+Tls. 300.  Mrs. Ogren, dismounting from her mule, advanced to a man who
+appeared to be the leader, and told him that they had no money.  She
+begged him to have pity on them, and to spare her at least her baby's
+things.  Her appeal was not entirely wasted, for while they were
+helping themselves to their things the leader handed her, on the point
+of his sword, <I>one</I> of the baby's shirts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having taken everything that they fancied, the robbers now looked
+threateningly at the prisoners.  Their leader began whetting his sword,
+shouting as he did so, 'Kill, kill!'  Again Mrs. Ogren pleaded for
+mercy, and finally they relented, and departed without injuring them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fugitives now came to the conclusion that it would be certain death
+if they remained in the province, and as soon as possible they crossed
+the river in the ferry.  It was a dark, wet night when they reached the
+other side, and it was only after much entreaty and promises of reward
+that the ferrymen allowed them to take shelter in the dirty smoky caves
+where they lived.  Mr. Ogren at once despatched a message to their old
+Chinese friend asking for help, and four days later the man returned
+with some money, nearly the whole of which the ferrymen claimed, and
+obtained by means of threats.  With little money in their pockets, the
+Ogrens started off on foot towards the promised place of refuge.  It
+was a trying journey, for the heat was intense, and aroused a thirst
+which could not be quenched.  Once Mrs. Ogren fell exhausted to the
+ground; but after a rest they continued their tramp, and on the second
+day reached their destination, there to experience a bitter
+disappointment.  The people whom they expected would be friendly proved
+hostile.  They refused to give them food, and only after much entreaty
+did they permit them to take shelter in a cave near by.  This, however,
+proved to be a very insecure hiding-place, and twice they were robbed
+by gangs of men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaving this place, the Ogrens tramped further into the hills, and
+found another cave, where they could have remained in safety until the
+rising was quelled, had they been able to obtain food.  Mrs. Ogren and
+her husband would have endured the agony of long-continued hunger, but
+they could not see their little baby starve.  For some time he was fed
+on cold water and raw rice, but when their small stock of the latter
+ran out, they tramped back to make another appeal to the people who had
+so recently refused to help them.  Their reception was even worse than
+on the previous occasion.  One of the men had heard of the Boxers'
+offer of Tls. 100 for the head of every foreigner brought to them, and
+was anxious to earn the money.  Seizing his sword, he rushed at the
+fugitives and would have killed them, had not some of his relatives,
+perhaps moved by pity, intervened.  They held him fast while the Ogrens
+hurried away as quickly as their weakness would permit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Over the mountains they wended their way, sometimes having to crawl up
+the steep hillsides.  It was their intention to make their way back to
+Yung-ning, and seek protection from the mandarin who had always been
+friendly towards them.  It must not be forgotten that during the
+anti-foreign outbreak there were hundreds of Chinamen, besides the
+Christian converts, who, although well aware that a price was placed on
+the head of every foreigner, scorned to betray them, and did all in
+their power to facilitate their escape to a place of safety.  On their
+journey over the mountains, Mrs. Ogren and her husband met with many of
+these people, who gave them food and sheltered them at night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having forded a wide, swiftly-flowing river, the Ogrens came to a
+village where the natives treated them so kindly that they remained
+there for two days.  But on departing from this place their brief
+period of comparative happiness came to an end, for, towards night, as
+they drew near to a village, hoping to experience a repetition of the
+hospitality they had recently received, they found that they were
+likely to have a hostile reception.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was too late to turn back or to attempt to avoid the place, for they
+had already been discovered, so they trudged on through the village,
+the people laughing and jeering at them.  But just as they were
+quitting the village, hopeful that they would be permitted to continue
+their journey unmolested, they were seized and cast into prison.  The
+following morning two men were told off to take them out of the
+province; but it soon became evident to the prisoners that their escort
+intended to hand them over to the Boxers.  They were a particularly
+heartless pair, and one of them took from Mrs. Ogren her baby's pillow,
+which she had managed to retain through all their wanderings, and
+emptying out the feathers burned them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The following day they arrived at the Yellow River, and as they crossed
+in the ferry the prisoners saw that the village to which they were
+being taken was decorated with red lanterns.  This was a sign that the
+place was held by the Red Lantern Society, one of the divisions of the
+Boxer army.  On landing, the missionaries were at once surrounded by a
+crowd of jeering natives, and one fellow, with brutal glee, told Mrs.
+Ogren of the massacre of the lady missionaries at Ta-ning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After Mr. Ogren had been closely questioned, he was told they would be
+taken back to Yung-ning, but when they left the village they found that
+they were being led in quite a different direction.  At night they were
+placed in a cave, and on the following morning were marched off to the
+Boxer general's headquarters, a temple.  Mr. Ogren was at once taken
+before the general, Mrs. Ogren sitting in the courtyard with her baby
+on her knee.  She was suffering excruciating pain from a swollen eye,
+caused by the heat and glare, but her mental agony was no doubt
+greater, for in a few minutes her husband's fate would be decided.  She
+heard him answering the general's questions, heard him pleading for
+their lives.  Soon his voice was drowned in the sound of swords being
+sharpened, and a few minutes later she heard moans.  Her husband was
+being tortured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'My feelings were indescribable,' Mrs. Ogren writes.  'I could only
+pray God to cut short my husband's sufferings, and fill his heart with
+peace, and give me courage to meet my lot without fear.'  Soon the
+moaning ceased, and she concluded that her husband was dead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That night Mrs. Ogren was imprisoned in a tomb, and her baby, although
+he had nothing but water for his supper, slept soundly on the cold
+ground wrapped up in her gown.  On the following morning she was given
+some rice and porridge, but before she had finished her meal the guard
+set her free.  At once she decided to endeavour to reach Ta-ning, where
+other missionaries were imprisoned, preferring imprisonment among
+friends to the wandering life she had led for so long.  Hearing that
+there were some Christians in a village on the other side of the river,
+she forded the stream&mdash;narrowly escaping drowning, but only to find
+that she had been misinformed.  The villagers jeered at her when she
+told her story, and asked for food for herself and baby.  Departing
+from these inhospitable people, Mrs. Ogren lay down with her baby in
+the open.  Both were hungry and shivering, and probably their trials
+would have ended that night in death, had not two native Christians
+found them, and led the way to a cave.  Taking Mrs. Ogren to this place
+of shelter was, however, all that these men could do for her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The following day, while trudging along towards Ta-ning Mrs. Ogren was
+again captured by Boxers, and would have been promptly killed, had not
+the headman of the village protected her, and, in spite of the anger of
+the mob, appointed an escort to accompany her to Ta-ning.  It was a
+consolation to Mrs. Ogren to feel that she would soon be in the company
+of fellow missionaries; but to her sorrow she heard, on being placed in
+the Ta-ning prison, that they had been set free two days previously,
+and had started for the coast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The prison in which Mrs. Ogren was now confined was a filthy place,
+swarming with vermin, but the warders were kind to her, and gave her
+food for herself and baby.  Even the mandarin was moved when he heard
+of the sufferings she had undergone, but he did not release her.  Sleep
+was impossible that night, but, at daybreak, as Mrs. Ogren lay dozing
+with her child beside her, she fancied she heard her name called.
+Jumping up she ran into the courtyard, and looked eagerly around.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Olivia!'  It was her husband's voice, and there at the prison gate
+stood he whom she had thought dead.  'Praise God! oh, praise God!' she
+cried, her heart full of thankfulness; but he was too overcome with
+emotion to speak.  Truly Mr. Ogren was in a terrible plight.  His
+clothes hung in rags, and his head was bound with a piece of dirty,
+blood-stained linen.  One of his ears was crushed, and there were
+ghastly wounds in his neck and shoulders.  Even now he was not out of
+danger for as he stood at the gate Mrs. Ogren saw to her dismay a mob
+of infuriated Boxers rushing towards him, and it seemed as if he would
+be killed before her eyes.  But the yamên servants protected him, and,
+later in the day, he was brought to his wife and child.  The people had
+evidently taken pity on the poor missionaries, for they supplied Mrs.
+Ogren with some water to wash her husband's wounds and a powder that
+would heal them.  Moreover they supplied them with rice and mutton, and
+the secretary of the yamên's wife sent them a bowl of meat soup.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Mr. Ogren's wounds had been dressed, and he had eaten the first
+good meal he had tasted for many days, he related to his wife all that
+had happened to him since they were separated by the Red Lantern Boxers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Briefly his story was as follows:&mdash;On being taken before the Boxer
+general he was bound to a block of wood, with his hands tied behind his
+back, and while in this helpless state the Boxers kicked him and beat
+him with sticks, cursing the name of Jesus, and shouting, 'Now ask your
+Jesus to deliver you.'  After thus torturing him they untied him from
+the block, and led him with his hands bound behind his back to the
+river-side, with the intention of killing him and casting his body into
+the water.  Arriving there, they forced him down on his knees, and at a
+signal set upon him on all sides with swords and spears; but in their
+eagerness to slay him their weapons struck one against another, and
+instead of being killed instantly he received several wounds, which
+although severe did not disable him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly he sprang to his feet, and rushing through the crowd jumped
+into the river.  The Boxers, recovering from their surprise, rushed
+into the water after him, but remembering that his hands were tied
+behind his back they broke into jeering laughter, and waited to see him
+drown.  But the brave, persecuted missionary managed to reach the other
+side in safety, and running inland was soon lost in the darkness.  With
+his hands tied behind his back, and barefooted&mdash;his shoes were lost in
+the river&mdash;he tramped some fifteen miles before resting.  Then he
+severed the cords which bound his hands by rubbing them against a rock
+until they were cut through.  In the hills he found a native Christian,
+who not only supplied him with food, water and a little money, but took
+him to a hiding-place for the night.  On the following morning Mr.
+Ogren started off again, with the intention of making his way back to
+Yung-ning, but before he had gone far he caught sight of Boxers
+scouring the country.  Finding a cave he hid in it throughout the day,
+resuming his journey at night.  After many hardships he met some
+natives, who informed him that his wife was in prison at Ta-ning, and
+at once he set off for that city, and entered it unnoticed by the
+Boxers.  It was only when he had almost reached the yamên that they
+heard of his presence and rushed after him.  How he escaped their fury
+has already been told.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two days after Mr. Ogren had rejoined his wife the authorities sent
+them with an escort out of the city on two donkeys, the men who
+accompanied them being instructed to take them from city to city until
+they arrived at the coast.  But on the second day the officials of a
+city through which they would have to pass warned them that they would
+not be allowed to enter it, and therefore the much-tried missionaries
+were taken back to Ta-ning, and placed once more in the loathsome
+prison.  Here Mrs. Ogren endured fresh trials.  Her baby, weakened by
+exposure and semi-starvation, became seriously ill, and for a time it
+seemed as if he would not recover.  When, however, the danger was
+passed Mrs. Ogren's second eye became terribly inflamed and caused her
+intense agony, and her husband becoming delirious with fever, had to be
+tied down to his bed.  Nevertheless, she did not lose her faith, and
+the prisoners, aware of all she had endured, and was enduring,
+marvelled to see her praying to God.  When, in the course of a few
+days, her husband began to gain strength they sang hymns, prayed, and
+read the Bible together.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A month later the Ogrens were told that in two days they were to be
+escorted to the coast, and the comforts which were at once provided for
+them made it clear that the authorities had received instructions to
+protect them and treat them well.  New clothes were given them, and
+when they started on their journey, Mr. Ogren, being far too weak to
+ride, was carried with the baby in a sedan chair.  Mrs. Ogren rode a
+horse.  The officer and ten soldiers who comprised their escort treated
+them kindly, and their example was copied by the inhabitants of the
+villages through which they passed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a welcome change, but it came too late.  Nine days after leaving
+Ta-ning Mr. Ogren became very weak, and in spite of every attention
+died on the following morning, October 15, from the effects of the
+cruelty to which the Boxers had subjected him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Can anyone imagine a more crushing sorrow for a woman than this which
+Mrs. Ogren had to bear?  To lose her husband just when their long
+months of persecution were ended, and they were looking forward to
+happy days of peace, was indeed the hardest blow she had suffered.  Her
+escort, touched to the heart by this sad ending to her troubles, did
+all that they could to comfort her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not until February 16, that Mrs. Ogren and her two children&mdash;a
+girl baby, healthy in every way, had been born at P'ing-yang-fu on
+December 6,&mdash;arrived at Han-kow, where everyone strove to show kindness
+to the much-tried widow.  Peter Alfred Ogren's name is inscribed on the
+roll of Christian martyrs, and Olivia Ogren is a name that will ever
+stand high in the list of Christian heroines.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0205fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0205fn1text">1</A>] <I>Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the
+China Inland Mission</I>.  (Morgan &amp; Scott.)
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0206"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+EDITH NATHAN, MAY NATHAN AND MARY HEAYSMAN,
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+MARTYRED BY BOXERS
+</H4>
+
+<P>
+When, in the year 1900, the anti-foreign feeling in China culminated in
+the massacre of defenceless men and women, the three missionaries whose
+names head this chapter were working in the city of Ta-ning.  The
+inhabitants of this little city among the hills had always treated the
+missionaries with kindness, and it was not until Boxer emissaries
+arrived and stirred up the people by spreading untruths concerning the
+reason of the foreigners' presence in China, that a change occurred in
+the behaviour of some of them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The news of the Boxer rising was soon carried to the three ladies at
+Ta-ning; but it was not until July 12 that, at the earnest entreaty of
+the native pastor, Chang Chi-pen, they left the city to take shelter in
+one of the villages high up in the mountains.  They started at 7.30 in
+the morning, and, travelling through the heat of the day, arrived at
+Muh-ien, where they were welcomed by the inhabitants, both native
+Christians and unconverted, with kindness.  The knowledge that two lady
+missionaries had recently been murdered at Hsiao-i made the inhabitants
+of this hill-village anxious to show kindness to the three ladies who
+had come to seek shelter among them.  They gave them food, which
+although not very palatable to Europeans was the best to be had, and
+provided them with lodging.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The following day was passed peacefully.  Native friends came out from
+Ta-ning, bringing the comforting assurance that there were no signs of
+the Boxers coming in pursuit of the fugitives.  They told the
+missionaries that eighteen warships belonging to various nations had
+arrived, but had gone aground near Fuh-Kien.  The news of the arrival
+of these vessels naturally caused satisfaction to the three
+missionaries, and made them believe that the Boxer rising would soon be
+quelled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sunday, July 15, was a very happy day.  Native Christians came in from
+the neighbouring villages, and the old pastor, Chang Chi-pen, had
+stolen out from Ta-ning.  A service was held, and afterwards the
+missionaries were overwhelmed with invitations to take up their
+residence in various villages where they would be, they were assured,
+perfectly safe from the Boxers.  'It was really worth while being in
+such a position, to see how loyal the Christians were to us,' May
+Nathan wrote in her diary.[<A NAME="chap0206fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0206fn1">1</A>]  'We are certainly in a better position
+than most other foreigners, being amongst such simple, loyal,
+God-fearing men.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The following morning, soon after breakfast and prayers, a boy arrived
+from Ta-ning with the unpleasant news that 500 soldiers, who were in
+sympathy with the Boxers, had entered the city.  The inhabitants at
+once urged the ladies to flee to a more distant village, and, taking up
+their Bibles, the missionaries started off quickly, with a native
+Christian for their guide.  Rain fell heavily, and they arrived at
+their destination, Tong-men, wet to the skin.  Food was given them, and
+in the afternoon they lay down and slept in a shed full of straw.  The
+natives were determined, however, that they should have a better place
+in which to pass the night, and prepared a cave for them, spreading
+clean mats on the brick beds.  But, late in the afternoon, a Christian,
+whom the missionaries had sent to Ta-ning to obtain information
+concerning the movements of the soldiers, returned with the pleasing
+news that there were none in the city, nor had any been there.
+Thankful that the alarm had been a false one, the three missionaries,
+one feeling somewhat unwell, trudged back to the Muh-ien, and refreshed
+themselves with tea.  Throughout the day, or rather from breakfast
+until their return after dark, they had drunk nothing, tea, strange to
+say, being an unknown luxury in the place where they had sought
+temporary shelter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the following day soldiers did enter Ta-ning, but as an official
+despatch arrived almost at the same time instructing the yamên to
+protect foreigners, the three ladies decided not to remove from
+Muh-ien.  This proclamation, a copy of which was brought to the
+missionaries, stated that all foreigners who remained quietly at their
+stations would be unmolested, and was a great improvement on the
+previous one, which ordered that foreigners were to be exterminated.
+The arrival of the allied forces had of course made the Chinese deem it
+advisable to withdraw the former proclamation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing occurred during the next two days to make the missionaries
+think that they were in immediate danger of being massacred.  They
+spent the time in reading, sewing and talking to the sympathetic people
+who called on them.  But on the third day they received the sad
+information that seven of their missionary friends had been murdered on
+July 16.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Oh, it is sad, sad,' May Nathan wrote in her diary, 'such valuable
+lives; and who will be the next?  Perhaps we shall, for why should we
+be spared when, for my own part, I know that the lives of those who
+have gone were so much more valuable than mine?  I don't want to die,
+and such a death; but if it comes, well, it will be for a little, and
+after, no more sorrow&mdash;no pain.  Day by day we are without knowledge of
+what news may come!  Darling mother, don't be anxious whatever news you
+may hear of me.  It will be useless in the eyes of the world to come
+out here for a year, to be just getting on with the language and then
+to be cut off.  Many will say, 'Why did she go?  Wasted life!'
+Darling, <I>No</I>.  Trust; God does His very best, and never makes
+mistakes.  There are promises in the Word that the Lord will save His
+servants, and deliver them from the hands of evil men.  Dear, it may be
+the deliverances will come through death, and His hands will receive,
+not the corruptible, but the incorruptible, glorified spirit.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Early the following morning, just as they were about to begin
+breakfast, a friendly Chinaman arrived, with the warning, that a party
+of Boxers was coming up the mountains and searching everywhere on the
+way for them.  Instant departure was imperative, so, snatching up their
+Bibles and a few biscuits, they hurried off higher up the mountains,
+halting only for a few minutes among some native Christians, to deliver
+three short prayers.  Their Christian guide hurried them onward when
+the last prayer was finished, and soon they were climbing up steep,
+unfrequented sheep-paths.  A ruined temple on the top of a mountain was
+to be their hiding-place, and when they reached it, tired out, they lay
+down on the ground with stones for their pillows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How long they remained hiding in this mountain-top temple is unknown.
+Nor, as the last entry in May Nathan's letter is dated July 23, do we
+know the sufferings which they underwent during the next three weeks.
+All that is certain is that, after wandering about the mountains, they
+were captured by the Boxers on August 12, and dragged to a temple near
+Lu-kia-yao, where, hungry and thirsty, they were compelled to spend the
+night surrounded by a mob of fiends.  At day-break they were brought
+out and killed.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0206fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0206fn1text">1</A>] <I>Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the
+China Inland Mission</I>.  Edited by Marshall Broomhall.  (Morgan and
+Scott.)
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0207"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARY RIGGS AND THE SIOUX RISING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Of all the stories that have been written for young people none have
+been more popular than those describing adventures among the Red
+Indians of North America.  Fenimore Cooper's books have delighted many
+generations of readers; but on much of the ground where that author's
+famous characters lived, hunted, fought and died, big towns have sprung
+up, and the Indians, driven to live in reservations and to become,
+practically, pensioners of the Government, have been shorn of nearly
+all their greatness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the white man gained the ascendency in North America there came a
+better opportunity for missionary work, and notable among those who
+went to labour among the Indians was Mary Riggs, who, with her husband,
+worked for thirty-two years among the Sioux&mdash;the Red Indians of Dakota.
+She was born on November 10, 1813, at Hawley, Massachusetts, her father
+being General Thomas Longley, who had fought in the war of 1812.
+Evidently he was not a wealthy man, for Mary began her education at the
+common town school, where she had for her schoolfellows the children of
+some of the poorest inhabitants.  Later, she attended better schools,
+and at the age of sixteen became a teacher in one at Williamstown,
+Massachusetts.  Her salary was only one dollar a week, but she gave her
+father the whole of her first quarter's earnings, as a slight return
+for the money he had spent on her education.  After a time she obtained
+a better appointment at a school at Bethlehem, and while there she met
+Stephen R. Riggs, a young man who was studying for the Presbyterian
+ministry.  They became engaged, and a few months later Stephen Riggs
+told his future wife that he should like to become a missionary to the
+Red Indians, among whom work had recently been started.  She expressed
+her willingness to accompany him, and, therefore, he at once offered
+himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by
+whom he was accepted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young people were married on February 16, 1837, and about a
+fortnight later began their long journey to the Far West.  Travelling
+was in those days, of course, very different from what it is now, and
+the young missionaries had to go by stage <I>viâ</I> New York, Philadelphia,
+and across the mountains to Pittsburg until they came to the Ohio.
+Snow, rain and mud made their journey by stage particularly unpleasant,
+but rest and comfort came on the steamer which bore them down the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On June 1, 1837, they arrived at Fort Snelling, near where the
+Minnesota joins the Mississippi.  Here they remained until the
+beginning of September, living in a log-house, and learning the Dakota
+language with the help of a missionary who had been in the field for
+three years.  From Fort Snelling they departed on September 5, 1837,
+for their destination Lac-qui-parle, travelling with two one-ox carts
+and a double wagon.  On September 18 they arrived at the station to
+which they had been appointed, and received a hearty welcome from the
+two missionaries who had settled there some time before at the earnest
+request of a Lac-qui-parle trader.  Lac-qui-parle was a small place, a
+mere collection of buffalo-skin tents, in which lived some 400 Red
+Indians.  Mr. and Mrs. Riggs found a home in a log-house belonging to
+one of the other missionaries.  Only one room could be spared them, and
+although it was but 10 feet wide and 18 feet long they made themselves
+comfortable.  Mr. Riggs wrote as follows in his account of their work
+among the Sioux[<A NAME="chap0207fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0207fn1">1</A>]: 'This room we made our home for five winters.
+There were some hardships about such close quarters, but, all in all,
+Mary and I never enjoyed five winters better than those spent in that
+upper room.  There our first three children were born.  There we worked
+in acquiring the language.  There we received our Dakota visitors.
+There I wrote, and re-wrote, my ever-growing dictionary.  And there,
+with what help I could obtain, I prepared for the printer the greater
+portion of the New Testament in the Dakota language.  It was a
+consecrated room.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Mrs. Riggs and her husband took possession of their one-room home
+they had much difficulty in making it comfortable, as they had been
+unable to bring on their furniture and domestic utensils.  One person,
+however, lent them a kettle, another provided them with a pan, and bit
+by bit they collected the most necessary articles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the East missionaries have never experienced a difficulty in
+obtaining servants, but in Dakota neither male nor female Sioux would
+enter the Riggs' service.  Consequently Mrs. Riggs had to perform all
+the household duties.  They bought a cow, but neither of them knew how
+to milk her.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Rigg tried to perform the task, but not
+until the cow had experienced considerable discomfort did Mrs. Riggs
+become acquainted with the art.  Washing clothes was a performance
+which filled the Sioux women with wonder, for they were in the habit of
+wearing their garments unwashed until they became too old to be worn
+any longer.  Very soon they adopted the white woman's custom, and,
+becoming fond of standing over the washing-tub, they took to washing
+Mrs. Riggs' clothes as well as their own.  For doing so they were, of
+course, paid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The missionaries who had preceded the Riggs at Lac-qui-parle had not
+been very successful, if success be judged by the number of converts
+made.  The native Church consisted of seven people, but before the
+Riggs had been there many months nine were added.  Most of these were
+women, and it was they, and not the men, who assisted in the building
+of the first church at Lac-qui-parle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Mr. and Mrs. Riggs had worked for some time with success at
+Lac-qui-parle they removed to a new station&mdash;Traverse des Sioux.  But
+four years later the news reached them that since their departure from
+Lac-qui-parle there had been a sad falling back into heathenism among
+the converts, and they hurried back to their old station.  Backsliders
+were reclaimed, and the missionary work carried on with increased
+energy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the missionaries had much to contend with.  The Indians were hard
+pressed for food, and occasionally shot the mission cattle.  Grog shops
+had been opened in the neighbourhood, and many of the Sioux bought
+drink when they should have purchased provisions.  Excited by the
+fire-water, the Indians were frequently riotous, and, although they
+never assaulted the missionaries, it was clear that they might massacre
+them.  On one occasion Mrs. Riggs had a very unpleasant experience.
+While her husband was away, twenty-six Sioux warriors paraded in front
+of mission house and fired their guns in the air.  Mrs. Riggs was
+naturally somewhat frightened, until she found that they were not bent
+on murder and scalping.  They had been searching for some Chippewas,
+but, having failed to find them, they fired their guns for practice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. and Mrs. Riggs continued their work with but few interruptions
+until 1862, when the Sioux rising occurred.  It began in this way.  The
+Sioux had assembled at Yellow Medicine to receive their annual
+allowance from the Government official.  While distributing the
+allowance the official announced that the Great Father (President
+Lincoln) was anxious to make them all very happy, and would therefore
+give them, very shortly, a bonus.  The Indians, having recently
+suffered greatly from want of provisions, were delighted at the
+prospect of an additional grant, and waited in the vicinity of the
+agency for its arrival.  When it arrived the Sioux found to their
+dismay that it was a paltry gift of $2.50 a man.  Their disgust and
+anger were increased by the knowledge that during the time they had
+been waiting for this insignificant present they could have earned from
+$50 to $100 by hunting.  Unintentionally, a Government servant added
+fuel to the fire, and the Sioux, maddened, began their terrible
+massacre of the scattered settlers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The news of the rising was carried quickly to the Riggs by friendly
+Indians, who urged them to hurry away as quickly as possible to a place
+of safety.  But the missionaries were not disposed to consider the
+rising serious.  The seizure of their horses and cows, and various
+other unfriendly actions performed by the people among whom they had
+lived for many years, soon, however, convinced them that it would be
+wise to depart.  So gathering together a few belongings the little band
+of missionaries, some carrying children, crept away by night to an
+island in the Minnesota River.  But on the following day the friendly
+Indians sent word to them that they were not safe on the island, and
+urged further flight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Acting on this advice, the Christians waded the river and started on a
+tramp to the Hawk River, and on the way met other settlers, hurrying
+like themselves, to escape from the infuriated Sioux.  Joining forces
+they proceeded on their journey, the women and children riding in two
+open carts, and soon met a wounded man, whom they tenderly lifted into
+one of the wagons.  He was the sole survivor of a band of settlers
+which had been attacked by the Sioux.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Keeping a sharp look-out for the Indians, the fugitives continued their
+journey across the prairie.  On the second night the rain fell heavily,
+and as the women and children could obtain no shelter in the open carts
+they crept under them.  Wet and shivering, the fugitives found, when
+daylight came, that they had scarcely any food.  Wood was collected, a
+fire built, and one of the animals killed and roasted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A day later they were espied by an Indian, who fortunately proved to be
+friendly.  He advised the fugitives to hurry to Fort Ridgely, and
+assured them that all the whites, with the exception of themselves, who
+had not taken shelter in the fort had been killed.  Acting on his
+advice, they proceeded in the direction of the fort, but travelled very
+cautiously, for there were signs that Indians were in the neighbourhood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One of the fugitives crept into the fort, but the news he brought back
+to his comrades in distress was not cheering; the fort was already
+overcrowded with women and children, and there was a very small force
+of soldiers to defend it.  For five days they had been continually
+attacked by the enemy, and unless reinforcements arrived quickly the
+fort would probably be captured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Riggs and their fellow fugitives decided, therefore, to hurry on to
+some other place, fully aware of the danger they were running in
+travelling through a neighbourhood which abounded with the
+scalp-seeking Indians.  One of Mary Riggs' daughters wrote of this
+period in their flight: 'Every voice was hushed, except to give
+necessary orders; every eye swept the hills and valleys around; every
+ear was intensely strained for the faintest sound, expecting
+momentarily to hear the unearthly war-whoop, and see dusky forms with
+gleaming tomahawks uplifted.'
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-130"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-130.jpg" ALT="EVERY EAR WAS STRAINED ... EXPECTING MOMENTARILY TO HEAR THE UNEARTHLY WAR-HOOP." BORDER="2" WIDTH="365" HEIGHT="596">
+<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 440px">
+EVERY EAR WAS STRAINED ... EXPECTING MOMENTARILY TO HEAR THE UNEARTHLY WAR-HOOP.
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Hour after hour the tired and footsore fugitives trudged on without
+being discovered.  Then four of their number, believing the danger was
+passed, bade adieu to the remainder of the party and proceeded in a
+different direction; but before they had gone far they were killed by
+the Indians.  The Riggs and their party heard the fatal shots, but the
+tragedy was hidden from their sight by the bush.  Fortunately, the
+proximity of the larger party of fugitives was not discovered by the
+Sioux; and at last, after a long, weary journey, the Riggs and their
+friends arrived at the town of Henderson, where their appearance
+occasioned considerable surprise, as their names had been included in
+the list of massacred.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Over a thousand settlers were killed during the rising, and there were
+many people who escaped death, but never recovered completely from the
+horrors of that terrible time.  Mary Riggs returned with her husband to
+the work among the Sioux; but her health grew slowly worse, and when,
+in March, 1869, an ordinary cold developed into pneumonia she had not
+the strength to battle against it.  She died on March 22, 1869, in
+Beloit, Wisconsin, worn out with her thirty-two years' work in the
+mission-field.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0207fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0207fn1text">1</A>] <I>Mary and I; Forty Years with the Sioux</I>.  By Stephen R. Riggs.
+Philadelphia, 1887.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0301"></A>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+III
+</H2>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN WAR-TIME
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Florence Nightingales's noble work among the sick and wounded in the
+Crimean War is known to everyone; but very few people are aware that
+there was another woman, working apart from Miss Nightingale, who
+performed deeds of bravery and humanity in the same campaign which
+entitle her to a high place in any list of brave and good women.  Sir
+William Russell, the famous war correspondent of the <I>Times</I>, wrote, in
+1858, of Mary Seacole: 'I have witnessed her devotion and her courage;
+I have already borne testimony to her services to all who needed them.
+She is the first who has redeemed the name of 'sutler' from the
+suspicion of worthlessness, mercenary business and plunder; and I trust
+that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out
+her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices
+for some other illustrious dead.'  England seems to have forgotten her,
+but it is hoped that this account of her life may help to remove the
+reproach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mary Seacole was born at Kingston, Jamaica, her father being a
+Scotchman and her mother a native.  The latter kept a boarding-house
+which was patronised chiefly by naval and military officers stationed
+at Kingston, but she was also widely known in the West Indies as a
+"doctoress."  Officers, their wives and children were her chief
+patients, and she is reputed to have healed many troublesome complaints
+with medicines made from the plants which she herself gathered.  Mary
+inherited her mother's tastes, and when quite a child decided to become
+a "doctoress."  She bandaged her dolls in the way she had seen her
+mother bandage patients, and on growing older she doctored any stray
+dogs and cats who could be prevailed upon to swallow the medicine she
+had made.  After a time she became anxious to try her skill upon human
+beings, but as no one would consent to take her medicine, she drank it
+herself, happily without any serious effects.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Mary Seacole (as she afterwards became) was about twelve years of
+age her mother began to allow her to assist in waiting upon the invalid
+officers staying at the boarding-house, and whilst thus engaged she was
+able to obtain a knowledge of nursing which was of the greatest value
+in after years.  While still a girl she paid a visit to England, and
+remained there, with some relatives, for some months.  She visited
+England again a few years later, and saw that there was a good opening
+in London for West Indian commodities.  Therefore, on her return, she
+exported guava jelly, pickles and various preserves, and being anxious
+to add to the variety of her wares, she visited the Bahamas, Hayti and
+Cuba, to inspect the productions of those places.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On returning from her travels among the islands she settled down again
+to nurse her mother's invalid boarders, and before long married one of
+them, a Mr. Seacole.  Her married life was, however, short for Mr.
+Seacole died a few months after the wedding.  A little later her mother
+passed away, and Mary Seacole was left without relatives in Jamaica.
+She continued to manage the boarding-house; but her generosity to the
+poor was so unlimited that when she had a bad season she was without
+money to support herself.  However, she struggled on until her
+boarding-house was once more filled with well-paying invalids.  But in
+1843 she had a very serious loss; her house was burnt in a fire which
+destroyed a large portion of Kingston.  The boarding-house was,
+however, rebuilt, and prosperity returned.  Many a white man asked her
+to become his wife, but she refused every offer, and devoted all her
+spare time to the task of adding to her store of medical knowledge.
+Several naval and military surgeons, surprised to find that her
+knowledge of medical matters was, for a woman, great, assisted her with
+her studies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In 1850 cholera broke out in Jamaica, and raged for a greater portion
+of the year, and a doctor who was living at Mary Seacole's house gave
+her many valuable hints concerning the treatment of cholera cases.
+Before long the knowledge thus obtained proved to be the means of
+saving many lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shortly after the cholera had ceased to rage in Jamaica Mary Seacole
+proceeded on a visit to her brother, who owned a large, prosperous
+store at Cruces in California.  On arriving there, she found the place
+crowded with a mixed mob of gold-diggers and speculators, some
+proceeding to the gold-fields, others returning.  The men returning
+were drinking, gambling and "treating" those who were bound for the
+gold-fields.  It was a degrading sight, and Mary Seacole wished that
+she had not left Jamaica.  There was nowhere for her to sleep, wash or
+change her travel-stained clothes, for every room in her brother's
+house was engaged by the homeward-bound gold-diggers.  Until they
+departed she had to manage to exist without a bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+These parties of miners arrived at Cruces weekly, and the scenes of
+dissipation were the same on each occasion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quarrels which ended in the death of one of the combatants were
+frequent and little noticed, but the very sudden death of a Spaniard
+who resided at Cruces caused great excitement.  He had dined with Mary
+Seacole's brother, and on returning home was taken ill and suddenly
+died.  Suspicion fell upon Mary Seacole's brother, and it was said
+openly that he had poisoned the man.  Mary Seacole, indignant at the
+accusation brought against her brother, went to see the body, and knew
+at once that the man had died from cholera.  No one believed her, but
+the following morning a friend of the dead man was taken ill with the
+same disorder, and the people who had scoffed at her became
+terror-stricken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no doctor at Cruces, and Mary Seacole set herself to battle
+single-handed with the plague.  Fortunately, she never travelled
+without her medicine-chest, and taking from it the remedies which had
+been used in Jamaica with great success she hurried to the sick man's
+bedside, and by her promptitude was able, under God, to save his life.
+Two more men were stricken down and successfully treated, and Mary
+Seacole was beginning to hope that the plague would not spread, when a
+score of cases broke out in one day.  The people were now helpless from
+terror, and Mary Seacole was the only person who did not lose her
+presence of mind.  Day and night she was attending patients, and for
+days she never had more than a hour's rest at a time.  Whenever a
+person was stricken, the demand was for 'the yellow woman from
+Jamaica,' and it was never made in vain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the cholera had been raging for some days, Mary Seacole despatched
+a messenger to bring a medical man to the place; but the Spaniard who
+arrived in response to the summons was horror-stricken at the terrible
+scenes, and incapable of rendering any assistance.  Mary Seacole was
+compelled, therefore, to continue her noble work unaided.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One evening she had just settled down to a brief rest when a mule-owner
+came and implored her to come at once to his kraal, as several of his
+men had been attacked with cholera.  Now Mary Seacole had been visiting
+patients throughout the day and the previous night, but without the
+slightest hesitation she went out into the rain and made her way to the
+sick muleteers, whom she found in a veritable plague-spot.  Men and
+mules were all in one room, and the stench was so great that a feeling
+of sickness came over her as she stood at the door.  But with an effort
+she overcame the feeling, and entering flung open the windows, doors
+and shutters.  Then, as the much-needed fresh air poured in, she looked
+around.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two men she saw at once were dying, but there were others whom she
+thought there was a possibility of saving, and these she attended to at
+once.  For many hours she remained in this strangely crowded room, and
+when she did quit it she only went away for an hour's sleep.  On her
+return to the plague-spot she found fresh patients awaiting her, one, a
+little baby, who in spite of her efforts died.  Everything was against
+Mary Seacole in this pestilential stable, but nevertheless she was the
+means of saving some lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length, when the plague was dying out, the brave woman who had so
+nobly fought the disease was herself stricken with it, but happily for
+the British army she recovered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Throughout the plague Mary Seacole had treated rich and poor alike.
+The centless man and the down-trodden muleteer received as much
+attention from her as the wealthy diggers returning home with their
+bags of gold dust.  The latter paid her liberally for having tended
+them, but the majority of her patients had nothing but thanks to give
+her.  Possibly she appreciated the latter most, for some of her rich
+patients seemed to think that having rewarded her they had wiped out
+the debt of gratitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On June 4 some of her wealthy patients gave a dinner party, and invited
+Mary Seacole to be present.  One speaker proposed her health, and after
+referring to her having saved their lives continued in the following
+strain: 'Well, gentlemen, I expect there are only two things we are
+vexed for.  The first is that she ain't one of us&mdash;a citizen of the
+great United States; and the other thing is, gentlemen, that Providence
+made her a yellow woman.  I calculate, gentlemen, that you're all as
+vexed as I am that she's not wholly white, but I do reckon on your
+rejoicing with me that she's so many shades removed from being entirely
+black; and I guess if we could bleach her by any means we would, and
+thus make her as acceptable in any company as she deserves to be.
+Gentlemen, I give you Aunty Seacole.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mary Seacole's reply to this ill-mannered speech was as follows:
+'Gentlemen, I return you my best thanks for your kindness in drinking
+my health.  As for what I have done in Cruces, Providence evidently
+made me to be useful, and I can't help it.  But I must say that I don't
+appreciate your friend's kind wishes with respect to my complexion.  If
+it had been as dark as any nigger's, I should have been just as happy
+and as useful, and as much respected by those whose respect I value;
+and as to the offer of bleaching me, I should, even if it were
+practicable, decline it without any thanks.  As to the society which
+the process might gain me admission into, all I can say is, that,
+judging from the specimens I have met here and elsewhere, I don't think
+that I shall lose much by being excluded from it.  So, gentlemen, I
+drink to you, and the general reformation of American manners.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In 1853 Mary Seacole returned to Jamaica, and before she had been there
+many weeks yellow fever broke out.  It was the worst outbreak that had
+occurred for many years, and soon Mary Seacole's boarding-house was
+full of patients, chiefly officers, their wives and children.  In
+nursing her boarders, and procuring proper food for them, Mary Seacole
+had more work than most women would care to undertake; but when the
+military authorities asked her to organise a start of nurses to attend
+to the men in Up-Park Camp, Kingston, she set to work on this
+additional task, and, carrying it out with her customary thoroughness,
+rendered a great service to the army.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the yellow fever had subsided Mary Seacole sold her
+boarding-house, and opened a store in New Granada, where she speedily
+obtained popularity because of her medical skill.  On war being
+declared against Russia, she determined to go to the Crimea to nurse
+the sick and wounded, and started for London as quickly as possible,
+arriving there soon after the news of the battle of Alma had been
+received.  She had anticipated no difficulty in getting sent to the
+front, as there were many officers who could testify to her nursing
+abilities; but she found on arriving in London that every regiment to
+whom she was known had been sent to the Crimea.  However, as the news
+of the sufferings of our men at the front had reached London, and the
+necessity of nurses being sent out was recognised, she imagined that
+her services would be promptly accepted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon she found, greatly to her sorrow, that the colour of her skin was
+considered, in official circles, a barrier to her employment.  She
+applied in turn at the War Office, the Quartermaster General's
+Department, the Medical Department, and the Crimea Fund, but at each
+place some polite excuse was made for declining her services.  It was
+indeed a foolish act on the part of the officials.  Nurses were sorely
+needed, and here was Mary Seacole, who had far greater experience of
+nursing British soldiers than any woman living, refused employment.
+She declared in her little book of adventures,[<A NAME="chap0301fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0301fn1">1</A>] published soon after
+the war ended, that at her last rebuff she cried as she walked along
+the street.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Mary Seacole's determination to proceed to the Crimea was not
+shaken by her inability to prevail upon the authorities to accept her
+services, and after consideration she decided to go to the front at her
+own expense.  She had sufficient money to pay her passage to Balaclava,
+and to support her for some months after her arrival, but not enough to
+enable her also to supply herself with the medical outfit necessary for
+work at the seat of war.  The only way in which she could hope to be in
+a position to help the sick and wounded was by earning money in the
+Crimea, and therefore she decided to start an hotel at Balaclava for
+invalid officers.  By the next mail she sent out to the officers who
+had known her at Jamaica a notice that she would shortly arrive at
+Balaclava, and establish an hotel with comfortable quarters for sick
+and convalescent officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While Mary Seacole was making preparations for her departure she met a
+shipper named Day, who, hearing of her plans, offered to enter into
+partnership with her in the proposed hotel.  This offer she accepted,
+as with a partner she would be able to devote more time to the wounded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At Malta Mary Seacole found herself once more among people who knew and
+appreciated her.  Some medical officers who had been stationed at
+Kingston were among those who welcomed her, and believing that Florence
+Nightingale would be glad of her help, gave her a letter of
+introduction to that noble Englishwoman.  Having made arrangements for
+her work in the Crimea, Mary Seacole had now no desire to become
+attached to any nursing staff, but she accepted the letter of
+introduction, as she was anxious to make the acquaintance of Florence
+Nightingale, who was then at the barracks at Scutari, a suburb of
+Constantinople, which were being used as a hospital for British troops.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Mary Seacole arrived at Scutari, Florence Nightingale was too busy
+to grant her an interview immediately, so she spent the period of
+waiting in inspecting the wards.  As she passed along, many of the
+invalid soldiers recognised her and called to her.  Some of them she
+had nursed in Jamaica, and the sight of her kindly brown face filled
+them with recollections of happy days in the West Indies.  To every man
+who recognised her she said a few cheering words, and in several cases
+rearranged bandages which had slipped.  While thus engaged, an officer
+entered the ward, and was about to reprimand her, when he saw, much to
+his surprise, that she was as skilful as any doctor or nurse in the
+hospital.  When she had finished her self-imposed task, he thanked her
+for her thoughtful kindness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last Mary Seacole saw Florence Nightingale, whom she describes in
+these words: 'A slight figure, in the nurse's dress, with a pale,
+gentle, and withal firm face, resting lightly on the palm of one white
+hand, while the other supports the elbow&mdash;a position which gives to her
+countenance a keen, enquiring expression which is very marked.
+Standing thus in repose, and yet keenly observant, was Florence
+Nightingale&mdash;that Englishwoman whose name shall never die, but sound
+like music on the lips of British men until the hour of doom.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Naturally Florence Nightingale was interested in the woman who came to
+her warmly recommended by British medical officers, and made many
+enquiries concerning her intentions.  On the following morning Mary
+Seacole resumed her journey, but these two good women met several times
+before the war was ended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On arriving at Balaclava Mary Seacole received hearty welcome from the
+troops.  Men who had been stationed in Jamaica told their comrades of
+her bravery and kindness, and everyone hailed her as a great friend.
+Many officers, including a general and that gallant Christian, Captain
+Hedley Vicars, met her as she landed, and expressed their thanks to her
+for coming to the Crimea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mary Seacole was soon at work among the wounded, assisting the doctors
+to transfer them from the ambulances to the transports.  While engaged
+in this work, on the day after her arrival, she noticed a wounded man
+who was evidently in great pain, and saw at once that his bandages were
+stiff, and hurting him.  Having rearranged them she gave the poor
+fellow some tea, and as she placed it to his lips his hand touched
+hers.  'Ha!' he exclaimed, too weak even to open his eyes, 'this is
+surely a woman's hand.  God bless you, woman, whoever you are!  God
+bless you!'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few days later, as she was busy at her usual work of attending to the
+sick and wounded, the Admiral of the Port placed his hand on her
+shoulder, and said earnestly, 'I am glad to see you here among these
+poor fellows.'  A day or two before&mdash;when she had made some enquiries
+concerning the landing of her stores&mdash;this admiral had declared
+brusquely that they did not want a parcel of women in the place.  When
+at last Mary Seacole's stores were put ashore, she started business in
+a rough little hut, made of tarpaulin, on which was displayed the name
+of the firm&mdash;Seacole and Day.  The soldiers, however, considered that
+as Mary Seacole's skin was dark, a better name for the firm was Day and
+Martin, and as such it was generally known.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Towards the end of the summer, Seacole and Day's British Hotel was
+opened at Spring Hill.  It had cost £800 to build, and was an excellent
+place for sick officers to rest.  Adjoining the hotel, and belonging to
+the same proprietors, was a store at which could be purchased creature
+comforts and useful articles.  At first the store was opened every day
+of the week.  Mary Seacole had a strong dislike to opening it on
+Sunday, but the requirements of the soldiers made it almost a
+necessity.  After a time, when the most pressing needs of the men had
+been met, she gave notice that the store would be closed on Sundays,
+and this rule she refused to alter, in spite of being constantly urged
+to do so.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Many officers, instead of going into hospital when ill, became boarders
+at Mary Seacole's, and among these was a naval lieutenant who was a
+cousin of Queen Victoria.  These officers she doctored and nursed with
+her customary skill, and for every vacancy in her hotel there were
+half-a-dozen applicants.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day it became known in camp, that among the things which Mary
+Seacole had received from a recently arrived ship was a young pig,
+which she intended to fatten and kill.  Immediately she was overwhelmed
+with orders for a leg of pork, and if the pig had possessed a hundred
+legs she could have sold every one of them.  An officer to whom she did
+eventually promise a leg of pork was so anxious that there should be no
+mistake about the matter, that he made the following memorandum of the
+transaction:&mdash;'That Mrs. Seacole did this day, in the presence of Major
+A&mdash; and Lieutenant W&mdash;, promise Captain H&mdash;, a leg of <I>the</I> pig.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Every portion of the pig was sold long before the animal was fit to be
+killed, and then the purchasers began to fear that it would be stolen.
+Everybody took an interest in tins pig, and it was considered the
+correct thing for every soldier who passed the sty to assure himself
+that the animal was still there.  One day two officers, coming off
+duty, galloped up to the hotel and shouted excitedly, 'Mrs. Seacole!
+Quick, quick, the pig's gone!'  It was not a false alarm; the pig had
+been stolen.  As, however, the nest in the sty was warm, it was evident
+that the pig had only recently been taken, and a party of officers
+started in pursuit of the thieves, shouting laughingly as they rode
+off, 'Stole away!  Hark away!'  The thieves, two Greeks, were quickly
+overtaken, and the precious pig was brought back in triumph to Mary
+Seacole.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It must not be thought that Mary Seacole devoted herself entirely to
+the officers, for her best work was done among the privates on the
+battlefield.  Sir William Russell bore testimony to her courage and
+humanity.  'I have seen her,' he wrote, 'go down under fire, with her
+little store of creature comforts for our wounded men; and a more
+tender or skilful hand about a wound or broken limb could not be found
+among our best surgeons.  I saw her at the assault on the Redan, at the
+Tchernaya, at the fall of Sebastopol, laden, not with plunder, good old
+soul! but with wine, bandages, and food for the wounded or the
+prisoners.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Inspector-General of Hospitals praised her work, and the
+Adjutant-General of the British Army wrote on July 1, 1856:&mdash;'Mrs.
+Seacole was with the British Army in the Crimea from February, 1855, to
+this time.  This excellent woman has frequently exerted herself in the
+most praiseworthy manner in attending wounded men, even in positions of
+great danger, and in assisting sick soldiers by all means in her power.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From officers who could afford to pay for her medicine or wine she
+accepted payment, but a man's need, and not his ability to pay, was her
+first thought.  On the battle-field she gave strengthening food to
+wounded privates which she could easily have sold, at a large profit,
+to the officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Regardless of the danger she was running&mdash;she had many narrow escapes
+from shot and shell&mdash;she bandaged the wounded, administered
+restoratives to the unconscious, and prayed with the dying.  Scores of
+dying men gave her messages for their loved ones at home, and these she
+despatched as speedily as possible.  She saw many an old friend laid to
+his last rest, and among these was Hedley Vicars, with whom she had
+been associated in much good work in Jamaica.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mary Seacole was known to have a very poor opinion of our French ally,
+but a wounded Frenchman received as much attention from her as an
+Englishman.  The enemy, too, had good cause to bless her, for many a
+wounded Russian would have died on the battle-field but for her skilful
+and prompt aid.  One Russian officer, whose wounds she bandaged and
+whom she helped to lift into the ambulance, was greatly distressed at
+being unable to express his thanks in a language which she understood.
+Taking a valuable ring from his finger, he placed it in her hand,
+kissing her hand as he did so, and smiled his thanks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mary Seacole continued her noble work until the war ended.  But her
+generosity to the sick and wounded had been a great strain upon her
+finances, as the whole of her share of the profits in the firm of
+Seacole and Day, and much of her capital, had been spent on her
+charitable work.  And, to make matters worse, when the British troops
+had departed from the Crimea, the firm had to dispose of its stock at
+one-tenth of the cost price.  Proceeding to England, Seacole and Day
+started business at Aldershot, but after a few months the partnership
+was dissolved, and Mary Seacole found herself almost penniless.  But as
+soon as her unfortunate position became known, friends hastened to
+assist her.  <I>Punch</I> recorded some of her good deeds in verse, and made
+a humorous appeal on her behalf.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The red-coats did, at <I>Punch's</I> invitation, 'lend a willing hand;' for,
+although all ranks were sorry to hear of Mary Seacole's misfortune,
+they were glad to have an opportunity to prove to her that they had not
+forgotten her noble work in the Crimea.  Subscriptions to the fund that
+was started for her benefit poured in, and a sufficient sum was
+received to enable her to spend the regaining years of her life in
+comfort.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0301fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0301fn1text">1</A>] <I>The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole</I>.  Edited by W. J. S.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0302"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Many years ago, when His Majesty King Edward VII. was in Canada, he
+paid a visit to Mrs. Laura Secord, a very old and revered Canadian
+lady.  The news of the visit of the Prince of Wales (for such, of
+course, His Majesty then was), and the present which he afterwards
+bestowed upon her, was heard with pleasure throughout Canada, for Laura
+Secord is a heroine of whom the Canadians are justly very proud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The brave deed for which she is famed is here told:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On June 18, 1812, the United States of America declared war against
+Great Britain.  The conquest of Canada was the object President Madison
+had in view, and he was confident that he would achieve it with little
+difficulty.  Truly he had good reasons for his confidence.  In the
+whole of Canada there were less than 4500 regular troops, and it was
+known that Napoleon's activity in Europe would prevent the British
+Government from sending out reinforcements.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Naturally, the news that America had declared war filled the Canadians
+with dismay; but this feeling was quickly succeeded by a determination
+to repel the invaders, or die in the attempt.  The call to arms was
+sounded throughout the country, and an army composed of farmers,
+fur-traders, clerks, artisans, French Canadians, Red Indians, and negro
+slaves was soon formed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Among the white men who volunteered was James Secord, who had married
+Laura Ingersoll, the daughter of a sturdy loyalist who quitted the
+United States, after the War of Independence, to live under the British
+flag in Canada.  Mr. and Mrs. Secord were living at Queenston, on the
+banks of the Niagara River, when the war broke out, and it was at
+Queenston that a fierce battle was fought, four months later.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About two o'clock in the morning of October 13 the British discovered
+that the Americans had crossed the river under cover of darkness, and
+that some were already scaling the cliffs at various points.  A fierce
+fire was opened upon the invaders on the beach, who concealed
+themselves behind the rocks and fired whenever they saw an opportunity.
+The American losses were great, and it appeared as if they would either
+have to surrender or be annihilated, when suddenly a volley was poured
+into the rear of the British.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unseen by the defenders, a body of Americans had scaled the cliffs, and
+taken up a strong position above the British, who were now between two
+fires.  The British general&mdash;Brock&mdash;was mortally wounded, and for a few
+moments his men stood aghast.  Then the cry, 'Avenge Brock!' was
+raised, and with a cheer the British force advanced to drive out the
+invaders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A terrible hand-to-hand fight ensued, and slowly but surely the
+Americans were driven to the edge of the cliff.  Several hundred
+surrendered, and many more might have been taken prisoners but for the
+fact that the Indians had got beyond control, and refused to give
+quarters to their hated foe.  Seizing men who were willing to
+surrender, they hurled them from the cliff into the water below.
+Scores of Americans, fearing the vengeance of the Indians, jumped from
+the cliff and were drowned, and many others fought stubbornly until
+they reached the brink and fell backwards.  A terribly sanguinary fight
+had resulted in a victory for the British; but it had been dearly
+bought.  The British general was dead, and the battle-field was strewn
+with the bodies of brave volunteers who had died in defence of their
+homes and liberty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the last of the invaders had surrendered or been killed, Laura
+Secord was on the battlefield searching for her husband.  She found
+Captain Secord's men, but he was not with them, and not one of them
+knew where he was.  In the hand-to-hand fight they had lost sight of
+their captain, but they pointed out to the distressed lady the spot
+where they had fought.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hither Laura Secord hurried, and where the dead and dying lay thick she
+found her husband terribly wounded.  Falling on her knees beside him,
+she called him by name, but he gave no sign that he heard her.
+Believing him to be dead, she cried bitterly, and taking him up in her
+arms carried him to their house.  Then as she laid him down she found
+to her great joy that he still breathed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By her tender nursing she saved his life, although his recovery was
+very slow.  Winter and spring passed, and summer came, and Captain
+Secord was still an invalid and unable to walk.  It was a great trial
+to him to be kept to the house, fur another American force had landed
+at Queenston, and occupied the town and neighbourhood.  It had been
+impossible to remove Captain Secord when the other Canadians retired,
+and thus he and his wife were left in the midst of the Americans.  But,
+as it turned out, it was a happy thing for the British that he was too
+ill to be removed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day, towards the end of June, some American officers entered the
+Secords' house, and commanded Laura to give them food.  She did so, and
+while waiting on them listened to all they said.  Of course she did not
+let them see that she was taking an interest in their conversation, and
+succeeded in making them believe that she was a very simple and
+unintelligent person.  Imagining that she would not understand what
+they were saying, they began to discuss their general's plans, and
+unwittingly revealed to her the fact that a surprise attack was to be
+made on the British force.  When the officers, having eaten a hearty
+meal, departed, Laura Secord repeated to her husband all that they had
+said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Secord was at a loss what to do.  The British would have to be
+warned of the attack, but who could he get to pass the American pickets
+and carry a message through twenty miles of bush?  Never before had he
+felt so keenly his helpless condition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But his despair was short-lived, for his wife declared that she would
+carry the news to the British general.  Quickly she told him her plans,
+and although it seemed to him that there was little prospect of her
+being able to carry them out, he did not attempt to dissuade her from
+the undertaking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At daybreak the following morning Laura Secord, disguised as a
+farm-maid, quitted the house bare-footed and bare-legged, and walked
+straight to the cow to milk her.  But she had scarcely begun her task
+when the cow kicked over the milking pail and ran forward towards the
+bush.  The American soldiers laughed heartily at the mishap, but
+ignoring them Laura Secord picked up her stool and pail and ran after
+the cow.  Her second attempt to milk her ended in the same way&mdash;the cow
+kicked over the pail and frisked a few yards nearer to the bush.  To
+the delight of the soldiers this performance was repeated several
+times, and chasing the cow Laura Secord passed the pickets and entered
+the bush.  The Americans saw her make another and equally unsuccessful
+attempt at milking.  Soon cow and milk-maid were lost to sight.  Again
+Laura Secord approached the cow and began to milk her, and this time
+the animal stood quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The pinch which Laura Secord had given the cow on the previous
+occasions was not repeated, and the milking could soon have been
+finished, had the brave woman time to spare.  Sitting on her stool, she
+peered in the direction whence she came and listened.  Convinced that
+the soldiers had not had their suspicions aroused, she sprang up and
+leaving cow, pail and stool, started on her long journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hour after hour she pressed forward, fearful that at any moment she
+might come face to face with the enemy's scouts.  Nor was this the only
+danger she had to fear.  The bush was infested with venomous snakes,
+and on several occasions she found one lying in her path.  Sometimes
+she succeeded in frightening away the reptile, but frequently she was
+compelled to make a detour to avoid it.  Her feet and legs were torn
+and bleeding, but still she plodded on, across hill and dale, through
+swamp and stream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When night came she was still wearily trudging along, but uncertain
+whether she was proceeding in the right direction.  Again and again she
+fell to the ground, and would have lain there, but for the knowledge
+that the lives of hundreds of her countrymen would be lost if she did
+not reach the British lines quickly.  This thought spurred her on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Exhausted, bleeding and hungry, she continued her journey, praying to
+God to give her strength to reach her destination.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hours passed, and at length she became so exhausted that her hope of
+reaching the British grew faint.  She felt that if she fell again she
+would not have the strength to rise.  Then suddenly the air was filled
+with the war-whoop of the Red Indians, and a score of the dreaded
+savages sprang from their hiding-places and surrounded her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Indians were fighting for the Americans as well as for the British, and
+the atrocities which they perpetrated made the war of 1812 one of the
+most bitter, most unchivalrous, that had been waged between civilized
+nations for many years.  Believing her captors to be allies of the
+Americans, Laura Secord felt that her last hour had come, but imagine
+her joy when, a few moments later she discovered that they were scouts
+of the British force.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quickly she was carried to the British lines, and at her own request
+was taken at once to the officer in command, whom she told of the
+impending attack.  After praising Laura Secord for her bravery, and
+ordering that her wants should be attended to immediately, the officer
+proceeded to make use of the information she had brought him; and so
+well did he lay his plans, and so quickly were they carried out, that
+the Americans, instead of surprising the British, were themselves
+surprised, and every man in the force captured.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0303"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE.
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+During the Great Rebellion many brave deeds were performed by women.
+Royalists and Parliamentarians each had their heroines, and we can
+honour them all, irrespective of party, for their devotion to the cause
+which they had espoused, and rejoice in the fact that they were British
+women.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Bankes was a woman whom Roundheads as well as Cavaliers admitted
+to be a noble specimen of an English lady.  She was the wife of the
+Right Honourable Sir John Bankes, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and
+a member of His Majesty's Privy Council.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When it began to appear that the differences between King Charles and
+his Parliament would be settled by arms, Lady Bankes retired with her
+children to Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire.  Sir John was on circuit at
+the time, but it was soon discovered that he had supplied the king with
+money to carry on war against his Parliament, and for this reason he
+became a marked man.  He was not, however, a Royalist who hoped to keep
+his appointment by concealing his opinions from the Roundheads.  At the
+Salisbury assizes he made his charge to the grand jury an opportunity
+for denouncing as guilty of high treason several peers who had taken up
+arms against the king.  For this Parliament denounced him as a traitor,
+and declared his property forfeited.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No attempt was, however, made to seize Corfe Castle until May 1643,
+when all the other castles in the neighbourhood having been captured,
+it was the only one held by a Royalist.  The Parliamentary army was
+well aware that Sir John Bankes was not at the castle, and that Lady
+Bankes had a very small force of servants to protect her, and
+consequently it was, for some time, not considered necessary to capture
+it.  It was believed that Lady Bankes, shut up in her own castle, was
+powerless to harm Cromwell's army.  But, eventually, it was decided
+that it was unwise not to interfere with a place that was notoriously a
+Royalist possession, and it was decided to capture it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The day fixed for the event was the first of May.  On that day it was
+the custom of the gentlemen of Corfe Castle to hunt a stag on the
+island, and any one who liked to do so might participate in the sport.
+The Roundheads decided to attend the hunt, seize the men from the
+castle, and then capture the castle itself.  But the arrival of an
+exceptionally large number of people to attend the hunt aroused the
+suspicions of the few Royalists, who quickly withdrew to the castle and
+gave instructions that the gates were to be kept shut against anyone
+seeking admission.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having failed to capture the Royalists in the hunting-field, the rebels
+came to the castle, and pretending that they were peaceable country
+folk, craved permission to be allowed to see the interior.  The
+permission was refused, and some of the soldiers, angry at the failure
+of the plot, forgot the part they were playing, and threatened to
+return and gain admission by force.  The officers, anxious not to
+arouse Lady Bankes's suspicions, loudly reprimanded their men for
+making foolish threats, and assured her ladyship that they had no
+intention of doing as their men had vowed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Bankes did not, however, believe the rebel officers, and,
+convinced that an attack would shortly be made on the castle, she
+prepared to defend it.  She had no Royalist troops whatever in the
+castle, and her first step, therefore, was to call in a number of men
+whom she could rely upon.  But no sooner were the men instructed in
+their duties than the rebels demanded that the four small guns which
+were mounted on the wall should be given up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Bankes refused to surrender them, and some days later forty seamen
+came and demanded them.  Now at that hour Lady Bankes had only five men
+in the castle, but pretending that she had a large garrison, she
+refused the seamen's demand, and caused one of the guns to be fired
+over their heads.  The report of this gun, which only carried a
+three-pound ball, so alarmed the seamen that they fled in dismay.  They
+must have been very different from the men who sailed under Blake, and
+made the Commonwealth's navy world-famed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No sooner had the timorous seamen fled than Lady Bankes summoned to the
+castle all her tenants and friendly neighbours, to assist her to hold
+the place until her husband should return.  They came in quickly, many
+bringing arms, and vowed to fight for her and King Charles; but the
+Roundheads, discovering who had entered the castle, went to the homes
+of these men, and told their wives that unless their husbands returned
+home their houses would be burned to the ground.  The frightened wives
+thereupon made their way to the castle and implored their husbands to
+return.  Some of the men did as their wives desired, but others would
+not break the promise they had made to the mistress of Corfe Castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The enemy now decided to starve out Lady Bankes, and threatened to kill
+anyone caught conveying food to the castle.  This measure was
+effective, for Lady Bankes, being without sufficient food and
+ammunition to withstand a siege, agreed to deliver up the guns, on the
+condition that she should remain in possession of the castle unmolested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Bankes had, however, little confidence in the honour of the
+attacking party, and felt assured that they would before long, in spite
+of their promise, endeavour to take possession of the castle.  This was
+made evident by the behaviour of the soldiers, who, although they did
+not enter the castle, did not hesitate to boast that it belonged to
+them, and that they would take possession of it whenever it was
+required.  But Lady Bankes was determined that it should not, if she
+could possibly prevent it, fall into the hands of the enemy.  Therefore
+she gave instructions that the men appointed to watch the castle should
+be supplied liberally with food and drink, with the result that they
+neglected to do their duty, and allowed Lady Bankes to smuggle in
+sufficient provisions and ammunition to withstand a long siege.
+Moreover, Lady Bankes despatched a messenger to Prince Maurice, asking
+him to send a force to help her hold the castle against the enemy, and
+in reply to her appeal Captain Lawrence and some eighty men arrived
+upon the scene.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Parliamentarians had now become aware of the fact that Lady Bankes
+was taking steps to render the castle capable of withstanding a siege,
+and they decided to occupy it at once.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On June 23, 1643, Sir Walter Earle arrived before the castle with a
+force of about 600 men, and called upon Lady Bankes to surrender, which
+she firmly but courteously declined to do.  Her refusal greatly
+incensed the besiegers, who thereupon took an oath that 'if they found
+the defendants obstinate not to yield, they would maintain the siege to
+victory, and then deny quarter unto all, killing without mercy men,
+women and children.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Parliamentarians, possessing several pieces of ordnance, opened
+fire on the castle from all quarters, but did comparatively little
+damage, and their attempts to carry it by assault were equally
+unsuccessful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When some days had passed, and the attacking forces were no nearer
+capturing the castle than when they first arrived, the Earl of Warwick
+sent to their assistance 150 sailors, a large supply of ammunition and
+numerous scaling-ladders.  Possessing these ladders, the Roundheads
+anticipated that the castle would soon be in their hands.  They divided
+their force into two parties, one assaulting the middle ward, which was
+defended by Captain Lawrence, and the other, the upper ward, where Lady
+Bankes, her daughters, women-servants and five soldiers were the sole
+defenders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the Parliamentarians fixed their ladders against the castle wall
+Lady Bankes and her brave assistants showered down upon them red-hot
+stones and flaming wood.  The soldiers too, delighted at the bravery of
+the mistress of the castle, fought desperately, and not one of the
+enemy succeeded in gaining entrance to the castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir Walter Earle, seeing that he could not carry the castle by assault,
+withdrew with a loss of one hundred killed and wounded.  He would in
+all probability have made another attack, but during the evening the
+news reached him that the king's forces were approaching, and overcome
+by fear he ordered a retreat, leaving behind muskets, ammunition and
+guns, all of which fell into the hands of Lady Bankes and her gallant
+garrison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After this siege, which had lasted for six weeks, Lady Bankes was
+allowed to remain for two years in undisturbed possession of the
+castle; but she lived in the knowledge that at any time another attempt
+to capture it might be made, as it was the only place of any importance
+between Exeter and London that remained loyal to the royal cause.
+Threats were constantly reaching her from certain members of the
+Parliamentary party, and to add to her trials her husband, whom she had
+not seen for two years, died at Oxford on December 28, 1644.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In October, 1645, the Parliamentary army decided to make another and
+more determined effort to capture Corfe Castle, and a large force was
+sent to besiege it.  Lady Bankes and her handful of men had now pitted
+against them some of the best regiments in the victorious
+Parliamentarian army, but they scorned to surrender to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was in January of the following year that a young officer&mdash;Colonel
+Cromwell&mdash;determined to make an effort to rescue Lady Bankes, and
+riding with a specially picked troop from Oxford he passed through the
+enemy without its being discovered that he was a Royalist until he
+arrived at Wareham, the governor of which fired upon the troop.  A
+fight ensued, but the daring troopers speedily captured the governor
+and other leading men, and rode off to Corfe Castle, only, however, to
+find that between them and the besieged lay a strong force of the
+enemy.  They did not hesitate, but prepared instantly for the fight,
+and the besieged, cheering them loudly, made ready to sally forth and
+assist them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Afraid of being caught between the two Royalist parties, the besiegers
+retired, and Colonel Cromwell rode up in triumph to the castle walls,
+and handed over to Lady Bankes, for safe custody, the Governor of
+Wareham and other prisoners whom he had taken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Greatly to Colonel Cromwell's surprise, Lady Bankes declined to avail
+herself of the opportunity for escape which he had contrived, declaring
+that she would defend the castle as long as she possessed ammunition.
+Thinking that he could render the king greater service in the open than
+in a besieged castle, Colonel Cromwell rode off with his troop, but
+losing his way he and many of his men were captured by the enemy.
+Those who evaded capture made their way back to Corfe Castle, and
+assisted in its defence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Days passed without the enemy improving his position in the slightest
+degree, and Lady Bankes would have kept the royal flag flying for many
+months more, had there not been traitors in the castle.  Colonel
+Lawrence, who had gallantly assisted in the first defence of Corfe
+Castle, was persuaded by the Governor of Wareham to help him to escape,
+and to accompany him on his flight.  The treachery of Lawrence was a
+heavy blow for Lady Bankes, but she did not despair, believing it
+impossible that any other of her friends would turn traitor.
+Unfortunately she was mistaken.  An officer, who had hitherto been
+loyal and energetic as Colonel Lawrence, secretly sent word to the
+officer commanding the besieging force that if protection were given
+him he would deliver up the castle.  The proposal was welcomed, and
+after much secret correspondence it was settled that fifty men of the
+Parliamentarian army should disguise themselves as Royalists, and be
+admitted into the castle by the traitor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This plan succeeded.  The men were admitted without arousing any
+suspicion, and not until the following morning did the garrison
+discover that they had been betrayed.  A brief fight ensued, but
+resistance was useless, and with a sad heart Lady Bankes surrendered
+the castle which she had so nobly defended for nearly three years.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Parliamentarian officer who accepted the surrender was a humane
+man, and took care that his troops should not fulfil their vow to put
+to death every man, woman and child found in the castle.  After the
+place had been plundered, an attempt was made to destroy it, but the
+walls were so massive that its destruction was impossible, and to-day
+much of it is still standing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Bankes was not kept prisoner for long, and Oliver Cromwell
+ordained that she should not be made to suffer for her loyalty and
+bravery.  Throughout the Commonwealth the heroine of Corfe Castle lived
+peacefully, and did not die until Charles II. had been upon the throne
+nearly a year.  She died on April 11, 1661, and in Ruislip Church,
+Middlesex, there is a monument, erected to her memory by her son, Sir
+Ralph Bankes, on which is inscribed a record of her brave defence.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0304"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LADY HARRIET ACLAND.
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR.
+</H4>
+
+<P>
+It was at the beginning of the year 1776 that Major Acland was ordered
+to proceed with his regiment to America, to take part in the attempt to
+quell the rising of the colonists.  His wife, to whom he had been
+married six years, at once asked to be allowed to accompany him, but he
+hesitated to give his consent, being doubtful whether she would be able
+to bear the hardships of a campaign.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hitherto her life had been one of comfort.  She was the third daughter
+of the first Earl of Ilchester, and her training had not been such as
+would qualify her for roughing it.  Major Acland did not, however,
+offer any objections when his wife, fearing that he thought the life
+would be too hard for her, declared that she had made up her mind to
+accompany him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Arriving in Canada, she soon found that campaigning was more arduous
+than she had imagined.  Her husband's regiment was continually on the
+march, and she suffered greatly from cold, fatigue and want of proper
+food.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When they had been in Canada about a year, Major Acland became
+dangerously ill, and his wife, herself in ill-health, was his only
+nurse.  Although the twenty-seven years of her life had been without
+any experience of nursing, she soon became efficient, and before long
+had the pleasure of knowing that by her care and attention she had
+saved her husband's life.  But before Major Acland had fully regained
+his strength he was ordered to rejoin his regiment, to take part in the
+attack upon Ticonderoga.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So far Lady Harriet had followed her husband from place to place, and
+she prepared to accompany him to Ticonderoga; but, knowing that the
+fight would be a severe one, he insisted upon her remaining behind.
+She obeyed him, but was miserable during his absence, and would have
+preferred the greatest hardships to sitting idle, waiting to hear the
+result of the battle.  It was a hard-fought one, but Ticonderoga was
+captured by the British, and the news filled Lady Harriet with joy, for
+her husband, who sent her the message, told her that he was unhurt.
+The joy was short-lived, however.  Two days later Lady Harriet was
+informed that on the day following the capture of Ticonderoga her
+husband had been dangerously wounded.  Reproaching herself for having
+been away from him in time of danger, she started off at once to where
+he lay, and by careful nursing she again saved his life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Harriet had decided, during her husband's last illness, to follow
+him everywhere, no matter how great the danger; and when she was once
+more on the march some of the artillerymen, anxious to make her
+self-imposed task lighter, constructed for her a small two-wheeled
+carriage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Major Acland commanded the grenadiers, whose duty it was to be at the
+most advanced post of the army, and consequently Lady Harriet was
+always in danger of being killed or captured.  She, like the officers,
+lay down in her clothes, so that she might be ready at any moment to
+advance.  One night the tent in which she and her husband were sleeping
+caught fire, and had it not been for the prompt and gallant conduct of
+an orderly-sergeant, who at great personal risk dragged them out, they
+would have been suffocated or burnt to death.  As it was, Major Acland
+was severely burnt, and all their personal belongings were lost.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instead of being disheartened by the hardships and mishaps which fell
+to her lot, Lady Harriet became more cheerful as time went on; but
+another severe trial was in store for her.  Major Acland informed her
+that as they would in all probability engage the enemy in a day or two,
+she would have to remain in the care of the baggage guard, which was
+unlikely to be exposed to danger.  Lady Harriet protested, being
+anxious to accompany her husband into battle, but she was compelled to
+do as the major desired.  Here among the baggage she had for companions
+two other ladies, wives of officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the action began Lady Harriet was seated in a small hut which she
+had found unoccupied, and here she remained listening to the artillery
+and musketry fire, and praying that her husband might come out of the
+fight uninjured.  Soon, however, she had to vacate the hut, for the
+surgeons told her that they required it, as the fight was fierce, and
+the men were falling fast.  Unwittingly the surgeons had alarmed her.
+If men were falling fast there was little chance of her husband, whose
+place was in the front line of attack, escaping injury.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For four hours the battle raged fiercely, but Lady Harriet could obtain
+no news other husband.  He was not among the wounded or dead who had
+been brought to the rear, but she feared that at any moment she might
+see him lying white and still on a stretcher.  The two ladies who
+waited with her were equally anxious for news from the front, and for
+them it came soon, and cruelly.  The husband of one was brought back
+mortally wounded, and a little later the other was told that her
+husband had been shot dead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The battle ceased, and the last of the wounded was brought to the
+surgeons, but still Lady Harriet was without news of Major Acland, and
+it was not until many hours later that she heard he was still alive.
+Her joy was tempered by the knowledge that the fighting would be
+renewed before many days had elapsed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, on October 7, 1777, the second battle of Saratoga was fought.
+Lady Harriet was once again doomed to listen to the sound of cannon and
+musketry, and to see a sad procession of wounded moving to the rear.
+As time passed without any news of her husband reaching her, she began
+to hope that he would pass through the battle uninjured; but this was
+not to be.  Soon the news came that the British, under General
+Burgoyne, had been defeated, and that Major Acland, seriously wounded,
+had been taken prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a time Lady Harriet was overcome with grief, but growing calmer she
+determined to make an attempt to join her husband in the American camp
+and nurse him there.  'When the army was upon the point of moving after
+the halt described,' General Burgoyne wrote in his account of the
+campaign, 'I received a message from Lady Harriet, submitting to my
+decision a proposal (and expressing an earnest solicitude to execute
+it, if not interfering with my designs) of passing to the camp of the
+enemy, and requesting General Gates's permission to attend her husband.
+Though I was ready to believe (for I had experienced) that patience and
+fortitude in a supreme degree were to be found, as well as every other
+virtue, under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal.
+After so long an agitation of the spirits, exhausted not only for want
+of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rains for twelve
+hours together, that a woman should be capable such an undertaking as
+delivering herself to the enemy, probably in the night, and uncertain
+of what hands she might first fall into, appeared an effort above human
+nature.  The assistance I was enabled to give was small indeed; I had
+not even a cup of wine to offer her; but I was told she had found, from
+some kind and fortunate hand, a little rum and dirty water.  All I
+could furnish to her was an open boat and a few lines, written upon
+dirty and wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her to his
+protection.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Accompanied by an army chaplain and two servants, Lady Harriet
+proceeded up the Hudson River in an open boat to the enemy's outposts;
+but the American sentry, fearing treachery, refused to allow her to
+land, and ignoring the white handkerchief which she held aloft,
+threatened to shoot anyone in the boat who ventured to move.  For eight
+hours, unprotected from the night air, Lady Harriet sat shivering in
+the boat, but at daybreak she prevailed upon the sentry to have her
+letter delivered to General Gates.  The American general readily gave
+permission for her to join her husband, who, she found, had been shot
+through both legs, in addition to having received several minor wounds.
+His condition was serious, but Lady Harriet succeeded in nursing him
+into comparatively good health.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Major Acland was sufficiently recovered to be able to travel he
+returned with his wife to England, where the story of Lady Harriet's
+bravery and devotion was already well-known.  A portrait of her, in
+which she is depicted standing in the boat holding aloft a white
+handkerchief, was exhibited in the Royal Academy and engraved.  Sir
+Joshua Reynolds also painted a portrait of her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Harriet, 'the heroine of the American War,' lived, admired and
+respected, for thirty-seven years after her husband's death, dying
+deeply mourned at Tatton, Somersetshire, on July 21, 1815.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Let such as are affected by these circumstances of alarm, hardship and
+danger, recollect,' General Burgoyne wrote, 'that the subject of them
+was a woman, of the most tender and delicate frame, of the gentlest
+manners, habituated to all the soft elegances and refined enjoyments
+that attend high birth and fortune.  Her mind alone was formed for such
+trials.'  But in very many cases heroines have been women from whom few
+would have expected heroism.  The blustering braggart does not often
+prove to be a hero in time of danger, and the gentle, unassuming woman
+is the type of which heroines are frequently made.  The aristocracy the
+middle and the lower classes, have each given us many heroines of this
+type.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0305"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+AIMÉE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Napoleon was entering Moscow in triumph.  It was night, and the streets
+of the Russian capital were deserted, but at a window of one house past
+which the victorious troops were marching sat a French lady, eagerly
+scanning the faces of the officers.  Her husband, Captain Ladoinski, of
+the Polish Lancers, was somewhere among the troops, but she failed to
+recognise him as he rode by.  Soon, however, he was at her house, and
+great was the joy of meeting after long separation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the first greeting, Aimée Ladoinski noticed that her husband was
+wounded, and although he spoke lightly of his wound, it was not a
+slight one.  Moreover, it had been aggravated by want of attention, for
+Napoleon's surgeons did not at this time possess the proper appliances
+for dressing wounds.  Captain Ladoinski's wound had been dressed with
+moss and bandaged with parchment!  In a few minutes after making this
+discovery Madame Ladoinski had bandaged her husband's wound with lint
+and linen.  It was a great relief to the warrior, and settling down in
+a comfortable chair he proceeded to question his wife as to how she had
+fared during his absence, and then to relate his own adventures.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly, as they sat talking, a fierce red light shone into the room,
+which had until then been in darkness, except for the feeble glimmer
+from a shaded lamp in the corner.  Rising quickly, Madame Ladoinski
+went to the window, closely followed by her husband, who uttered an
+exclamation of surprise when he saw that a fire was raging in the newly
+captured city.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Taking up his lance Captain Ladoinski hurried out, to order his men to
+assist in subduing the fire, but at the doorway he was met by a
+messenger who made known to him Napoleon's command, that the troops
+billeted in that portion of the town were not to leave their quarters.
+Surprised at this order, Captain Ladoinski returned to his wife, and
+together they watched from their window the rapidly extending fire.
+The burning part of the city was at a considerable distance from where
+they stood, but it seemed to them that unless prompt measures were
+taken it would be impossible to save the city from utter destruction.
+Hundreds of soldiers were resting near them who might have been busily
+employed in checking the progress of the flames.  The truth dawned on
+both of them.  Napoleon did not see his way to save Moscow from this
+new calamity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now Aimée Ladoinski had resided for some time in Moscow, and its
+streets and palaces were familiar to her, and the thought of their
+ruthless destruction to thwart the designs of one man filled her with
+shame&mdash;shame that he who had caused this act of vandalism was a
+Frenchman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Ladoinski did not admire Napoleon, for she was at heart a
+Bourbon, and regarded him as an usurper.  The reckless sacrifice of
+thousands of his fellow countrymen for his own aggrandisement filled
+her with loathing for the man, and she did not conceal her feelings
+from her husband, who made no attempt to defend the emperor.  It was
+not for love of him that Captain Ladoinski had fought under 'the Little
+Corporal.'  He was a Pole, and it was because Napoleon was fighting the
+oppressor of the Polish race&mdash;Russia&mdash;that he fought for the French.
+The Russians had been humbled, and he, a Pole, had marched as one of a
+victorious army into their capital.  But secretly he wondered if the
+condition of much-persecuted Poland would be better under Napoleon than
+it was under Russia.  His wife candidly declared that it would not be.
+Napoleon had promised he would free Poland from the Russian yoke, but
+she felt convinced that it would simply be to place the country under
+French rule.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'And, wherefore,' she said to her husband, as we read in Watson's
+<I>Heroic Women of History</I>, 'should Poland find such solitary grace in
+the eyes of Europe's conquerors?  Shall all the nations lie prostrate
+at his feet, and Poland alone be permitted to stand by his side as an
+equal?  Be wise, my dear Ladoinski.  You confess that the conqueror
+lent but a lifeless ear to the war-cry of your country.  Be timely
+wise; open your eyes, and see that this cold-hearted victor&mdash;wrapped in
+his own dark and selfish aims&mdash;uses the sword of the patriot Pole only,
+like that of the prostrate Prussian, to hew the way to his own throne
+of universal dominion....  Believe it, this proud man did not enslave
+all Europe to become the liberator of Poland.  Ah! trust me, that is
+but poor freedom which consists only In a change of masters.  O
+Ladoinski!  Ladoinski! give up this mad emprise; return to the bosom of
+your family; and when your compatriots arise to assert their rights at
+the call of their country, and not at the heartless beck of a stranger
+despot, I will buckle the helmet on your brow.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Ladoinski was inclined to believe that his wife had spoken the
+truth when she said that Napoleon would forget the Poles, now that
+Russia was crushed.  Posing as a disinterested man eager to deliver the
+Poles from the hands of their oppressor, Napoleon had gathered round
+him a band of brave men, who fought with the determination of men
+fighting for their homes and liberty.  They had served his purpose, and
+he would reward them, not with the freedom he had promised, but with
+the intimation that they were now his subjects.  It was a terrible
+disappointment, but Captain Ladoinski consoled himself with the belief
+that French rule would not be so hard to bear as the Russian had been.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fire spread apace.  It was a grand yet terrible scene, the like of
+which, it is to be hoped, will never again be witnessed.  Soon the heat
+became unbearable in the quarter of the city where the Ladoinskis stood
+and watched, and sparks and big flaring brands fell in showers.  Unless
+they departed quickly they would be burned to death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Ladoinski could not seek safety in flight, for he had been
+commanded to remain in his quarters, and the order had not been
+cancelled.  Assuring his wife that he would soon be at liberty to leave
+his post, he urged her to depart with their child and wait for him
+outside the city.  This she refused to do, declaring that as long as he
+remained where he was she would stay with him.  And this determination
+he could not alter, although he used every persuasion possible to that
+end.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On came the flames, crackling, hissing and roaring, and soon the houses
+facing the Ladoinskis would be engulfed in them.  The captain would not
+quit his post without orders, and his wife would not leave him.  Death
+seemed certain, and they were preparing to meet it, when suddenly an
+order came from head-quarters ordering the troops to evacuate the city
+with all despatch.  Instantly the retreat began, but many men fell in
+the scorching, suffocating streets never to rise again.  Captain
+Ladoinski and his wife and child had many narrow escapes from the fiery
+brands which fell hissing into the roads as they hurried on towards the
+suburbs, but fortunately they received no injury.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Arriving on high ground, and safe from the fire's onslaught, the
+Ladoinskis stood, with thousands of Napoleon's army, gazing at the
+destruction of Moscow.  The captain, remembering the havoc which the
+Russians had wrought by fire and sword in Warsaw, rejoiced to see their
+capital in flames; but his wife checked his rejoicing by warning him
+that the destruction of Moscow would not bring freedom to Poland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And now began Napoleon's retreat.  Terrible were the sufferings of the
+men, but it is only with Madame Ladoinski's trials that we are
+concerned.  Knowing that after the burning of Moscow it would be
+dangerous for any French person to remain in Russia, she, with many
+other people of her nationality, accompanied the French army on its
+disastrous retreat.  She travelled in a baggage-wagon, which at any
+rate afforded her and her child some protection from the frost and
+snow.  To her the journey was not so terrible an undertaking as to some
+of her compatriots, for she had the pleasure of being daily with her
+husband, after some years of separation.  But her pleasure soon
+received a rude shock.  The Cossacks hung on with tenacity to the
+remains of the great French army, swooping down at unexpected times
+upon some dispirited, disorganised section, cutting it to pieces, and
+recapturing some of the spoil with which the troops were loaded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Ladoinski was present when one of these attacks was made, and,
+while assisting to repel the attackers, received a dangerous wound.  A
+place was found for him in the baggage-wagon, and there he lay for
+days, tenderly nursed by his wife.  The road was blocked in many places
+with abandoned guns, dead horses, and broken-down wagons, and
+travelling was difficult.  Some of the wagons had not broken down
+accidentally or through hard wear, but had been tampered with by the
+drivers.  Many a terrible act was perpetrated in baggage-wagons during
+the retreat from Moscow.  In these wagons, among the spoil taken from
+the capital, were placed the wounded, frequently unattended and without
+protection.  Many of the drivers, anxious to possess some of the spoil
+with which their wagons were loaded, weakened the axle, so that it
+should collapse.  The bedraggled soldiers would march on, and when the
+drivers were well in rear of the force they murdered their wounded
+passengers and looted the wagons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One night Madame Ladoinski was awakened by the stoppage of their wagon.
+She had heard stories of the murdering of the wounded by wagon-drivers,
+but she had not believed them, and after peeping out at the
+snow-covered country, and seeing that soldiers and other wagons were
+near, she lay down again, and in a few minutes was sleeping soundly&mdash;a
+sleep from which in all probability she would not have awakened, so
+intense was the cold, had not the wagon arrived at Smolensk, a depôt of
+the French army, an hour later.  Her life was saved by the prompt
+attention of a young officer, who glanced into the wagon, and was
+surprised to find her lying insensible with her child beside her.
+Calling to some brother officers, he jumped into the wagon and poured a
+little brandy into Madame Ladoinski's mouth.  Then, when she began to
+show signs of returning consciousness, he and his companions lifted her
+from the wagon to carry her and her boy to a house where they would be
+properly warmed, fed and nursed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the way some of the officers recognised her as Captain Ladoinski's
+wife, and they were naturally surprised to find her in such a sad
+condition.  'Where is Ladoinski?' they asked each other; and one
+replied that on the previous day he had seen him, wounded, in the wagon
+with his wife and child.  Some expressed the belief that he had died of
+his wounds, but others declared that he must have been murdered by the
+wagon-drivers, who, scoundrels though they were, had possessed
+sufficient humanity to spare the woman and child.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As in a dream, Madame Ladoinski had heard the conversation of the
+officers, and suddenly she grasped the meaning of what they had said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'My husband! my husband!' she cried, wildly.  'Where is he?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The officers, distressed at her grief, told her that when the wagon
+arrived at Smolensk, she and her boy were the only people in it.  Of
+her husband they had seen or heard nothing, and the wagon-drivers had
+disappeared soon after reaching the city.  They endeavoured to cheer
+her, however, by assuring her that he was, no doubt, not far away, and
+would soon return to her.  But she, remembering what they had said when
+they believed her to be unconscious, was not calmed by their
+well-intentioned words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two days passed, and nothing was seen or heard of Captain Ladoinski,
+although the officers who had taken an interest in his wife made every
+effort to obtain news of him.  They were in their own minds convinced
+that he was dead, but in order that a searching enquiry might be made,
+they obtained for her an interview with two of the most powerful of
+Napoleon's officers&mdash;the King of Naples and Prince Eugène Beauharnais,
+Viceroy of Italy.  These officers listened quietly to the story of her
+husband's disappearance, and having expressed their sympathy with her,
+an aide-de-camp was summoned and ordered to make immediate enquiries
+among the wagon-drivers as to the fate of Captain Ladoinski.  The
+aide-de-camp answered respectfully that he and several of his brother
+officers had already closely questioned every wagon-driver they could
+find, and that the men had sworn that Captain Ladoinski had died during
+the night of cold and of his wounds, and that his body had been thrown
+out into the snow.  Madame Ladoinski, they declared, was insensible
+from cold when her husband died.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Clasping her boy, Madame Ladoinski burst into tears.  For a few minutes
+she sat sobbing bitterly, but then, in the midst of her grief, she
+remembered that she was encroaching on the time of the officers before
+her.  Controlling her tears as well as she was able, she asked for a
+safe-conduct for herself and child.  As a Frenchwoman and the widow of
+a Polish rebel she would receive, she reminded her hearers, no mercy if
+she fell into the hands of the Russians.  Her husband had fought for
+the French, and she claimed French protection.  Instantly the two
+marshals declared that she should have the protection she asked, and
+Prince Eugène offered her a seat in a wagon that would accompany his
+division when it started in the course of a few days.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Ladoinski accepted the offer with gratitude, whereupon the
+aide-de-camp was informed that she was to be placed in a baggage-wagon,
+and that the drivers were to be told that if their passengers did not
+reach the end of the journey in safety they would answer for it with
+their lives.  On the other hand, if she arrived safely in Poland, and
+declared that she and her boy had been well-treated on the way, each
+driver would receive five hundred francs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a few days Madame Ladoinski was once again in a baggage-wagon; but
+Napoleon's 'Grand Army' was now in a terrible condition.  Ragged,
+starving, dispirited by the constant harassing from the enemy, and the
+continuous marching through snow, it made but slow progress.  The
+gloomy forests through which the miserable army tramped on its way to
+attempt the passage of the Beresina were blocked with snow, and so
+difficult was it to move the guns that Napoleon ordered that one half
+of the baggage-wagons were to be destroyed, so that the horses and oxen
+might be utilised for dragging forward the artillery.  The wagon in
+which Madame Ladoinski rode was one of the number condemned to
+destruction, but the men who had been ordered to protect her speedily
+found room for her in another vehicle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A day or two later, when the bedraggled army was nearing the Polish
+frontier, Madame Ladoinski was startled from her dejection by hearing
+loud joyful shouts, and on enquiring of the driver the reason of the
+noise she was told that a reinforcement under Marshal Victor had
+unexpectedly arrived.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon the reinforcements were passing the wagon, but Madame Ladoinski
+possessed neither the energy nor the curiosity to glance out at them.
+She could think of nothing but her dead husband and her little orphaned
+boy.  But suddenly as she sat brooding over her great loss she heard,
+'Forward, lancers!' uttered in Polish.  Believing that it was her
+husband's voice she had heard, she sprang up and looked out at the
+troop trotting ahead.  But she could not recognise her husband among
+the lancers, and she turned to sit down, believing that she was the
+victim of a delusion.  To her surprise she saw her little son standing,
+with a finger uplifted to urge silence, listening eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'What is it, darling?' she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Father!' he replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again Madame Ladoinski's spirits rose, but they fell quickly when she
+remembered that the Polish Lancers had quitted Smolensk before she and
+her boy arrived there.  It was madness, therefore, to imagine that her
+wounded husband could be with Marshal Victor's army, and she dismissed
+the hope from her mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Days of terrible suffering for Napoleon's army followed, but eventually
+Studzianka, on the left bank of the Beresina, was reached, and the
+soldiers hoped that once in Poland their trials would diminish.  Madame
+Ladoinski, her spirits reviving at the prospect of soon being in her
+husband's native land, lay listening to the noise of the men busily
+engaged in building the bridges over which the French army was to pass.
+Suddenly there was a tremendous uproar; shouts of joy, cries of
+triumph.  Looking out Madame Ladoinski saw at once the cause of the
+excitement&mdash;the enemy who had been encamped on the opposite bank of the
+river was in full retreat.  The fierce battle which she had dreaded, in
+case her boy might be injured, would not be fought.  Falling on her
+knees in the wagon, she thanked God for averting the danger she feared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now that the Russians were gone, the cavalry swam their horses across
+the river, and took up a position that would protect the crossing of
+the foot soldiers.  The bridges were completed at last, and quickly the
+ragged regiments hurried over them.  The baggage-wagons were to be left
+until the last, and for hours Madame Ladoinski sat watching regiment
+after regiment hurry across.  Napoleon, stern and silent, passed close
+to her, and a mighty shout of 'Vive L'Empereur' burst from his
+trusting, long-suffering troops, when he gained the opposite bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon after Napoleon had crossed, Prince Eugène came along, and seeing
+Madame Ladoinski he rode over to her, and told her cheerfully that she
+would soon be among her husband's friends, and that her trials would
+then be at an end.  Then, turning to the drivers, he commanded them not
+to forget the order he had given concerning their behaviour and care of
+the lady entrusted to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When at last more than half the troops had crossed, the news arrived
+that the Russians had suddenly turned about and were marching back to
+the position they had vacated, while another strong body of the enemy
+was advancing to attack in the rear the troops which had not yet
+crossed.  Instantly there was a panic, and the wagon-drivers, anxious
+for their own safety, turned Madame Ladoinski and her companions out of
+the wagon, so that their weight might not impede their progress.
+Madame Ladoinski reminded them of Prince Eugène's instructions, but
+they took no notice.  Neither fear of punishment nor hope of reward had
+any influence over them now; they were anxious only for their own
+safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a minute or two Madame Ladoinski knew not what to do.  To attempt
+to cross either of the bridges on foot would, she soon saw, result in
+her and her child being crushed to death.  Others, men and women, had
+come to the same conclusion, and were wandering, shivering with cold,
+along the bank of the river.  These Madame Ladoinski hastened to,
+believing, as did they, that before long the bridges would be less
+crowded, and they would be able to cross in safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But soon the sound of the Russian guns was heard in the rear of Madame
+Ladoinski and her fellow-sufferers, and a little later the cheers of
+the advancing enemy could be heard distinctly.  Marshal Victor's force,
+which lay between these unfortunate people and the Russians, fought
+gallantly at first, but at last they began to give way, and Madame
+Ladoinski feared that all was lost.  Nearer and nearer came the enemy,
+and many of their musket balls reached the despairing creatures by the
+riverside.  Approaching nearer to one of the bridges, Madame Ladoinski
+decided to join the crowd of terrified fugitives that was struggling
+across it.  But before she reached it there was a terrible rush for it,
+and she stood aghast looking at the awful scene.  Every one in the
+living mass was terrified, and each was fighting for his own life.
+Those who fell were quickly trampled to death by the hurrying mob, or
+crushed beneath the wheels of baggage-wagons and artillery.  Now and
+again some terrified man, possessed of more than average strength,
+would be seen making his way along the crowded bridge by seizing and
+pitching into the river any who barred his way.  And to add to the
+horror of the scene a terrible storm burst.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Ladoinski, horrified by what she saw, decided to make no attempt
+to cross, but to remain where she was.  Musket balls were now falling
+rapidly around her, and, to save her boy from the chance of being
+wounded, she laid him down on the ground, and placed herself in such a
+position that no ball could touch him unless it passed through her.
+Thick and fast the balls were flying, and Madame Ladoinski expected to
+receive at any minute a fatal wound, but, although men and women fell
+close around her, she remained unhurt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly but surely Victor's men were driven back on the crowd that was
+still struggling to cross the bridge, and whose condition was made
+still more awful by the Russian infantry firing on it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last some of the regiments fled in disorder before the advancing
+enemy, and a troop of horse dashed back within a few yards of Madame
+Ladoinski.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Stand, lancers, stand!' the officer was shouting to his men, and his
+voice sent a thrill of joy through Madame Ladoinski, for it was her
+husband's.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was confident of it this time, and almost immediately a strong gust
+of wind blew aside the smoke, which hung heavily over the battlefield,
+and there, not many yards away, was he whom she had believed to be
+dead.  In stirring tones he called upon his men to charge once again
+into the ranks of the enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'My love, my husband!' Madame Ladoinski called, still sheltering her
+boy with her body.  'It is I, it is Aimée.'  But the din of warfare and
+the roaring of the wind drowned her voice.  Again she called, but still
+he did not hear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'Lancers! forward,' he shouted.  'For God and Poland!  'For God and
+Poland!' his men answered, and spurring their horses they dashed
+forward once more to meet the enemy.  Ladoinski had not seen his wife,
+and perhaps he would never see her again!  Madame Ladoinski wept
+quietly; but as night began to draw nigh she determined to cross the
+bridge, thinking that she and her boy might as well risk being crushed
+on the bridge as being shot by the enemy.  But when she saw the crowd
+of human beings turned by terror into demons, she decided to remain
+where she was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes later, as she lay protecting her boy and gazing at the
+struggling mob, she saw the largest bridge sway, and almost instantly
+it collapsed and fell, with its struggling mass of human beings, into
+the icy river.  For a few minutes the terrified shrieks of the drowning
+men and women were heard even amidst the noise of battle and the
+roaring of the wind; then they ceased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It seemed to Madame Ladoinski that there was to be no end to the
+terrors of that day.  She felt that she was going out of her mind, and
+prayed that she and her boy might die quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Throughout the night Madame Ladoinski lay beside her boy in the snow.
+But she did not sleep a minute.  The thunder of the enemy's artillery,
+the sound of the musketry, and the noise of the disordered mob of
+soldiers who fought like demons to get safely across the one remaining
+bridge, would have prevented almost anyone from sleeping.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When daylight came the Russians were so near that it was clear to
+Madame Ladoinski that unless she crossed the bridge immediately she
+would soon be a prisoner.  Lifting her boy, and sheltering him as much
+as possible, she hurried towards the bridge, but two or three times,
+when the enemy's fire increased in severity, she took cover for a few
+minutes.  At last she reached the bridge.  The crowd was not now great,
+and it would have been possible for her to cross without any fear of
+her boy being crushed, but no sooner had they put their feet on the
+bridge when shouts of 'Go back, go back!  Give yourselves up to the
+Russians,' burst from their comrades who had already crossed the river.
+Stupefied, the people fell back, and almost at the same moment the last
+bridge burst into flames.  To prevent the Russians from pursuing them,
+the French had burnt the bridge and left hundreds of their fellow
+countrymen to fall into the hands of the enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Cossacks, who were first of the Russian army to reach the river,
+were more eager for plunder than slaughter, and Madame Ladoinski fled
+along the river bank with her child pressed to her bosom.  She had no
+idea of what to do, and for a time she escaped molestation.  Then she
+decided to make an attempt to struggle through the river.  She knew
+that there was very little probability of her being able to reach the
+other side, but it would be better for her and her little son to die
+than to fall into the hands of the semi-savage Cossacks.  Tying her boy
+to her, so that the fate of one might be the other's, she approached
+the water; but on the brink she was seized by a Russian.  Terrified,
+she screamed for help, and it was fortunate that she did so, for the
+remnants of the Polish Lancers&mdash;last to cease fighting the
+Russians&mdash;were entering the river not many yards away, and Captain
+Ladoinski heard her cries.  Calling to his men to come back, he urged
+his horse up the bank, and galloped along the riverside until he came
+to his wife and child.  The Russian fled at the approach of the Polish
+Lancers, and Captain Ladoinski lifted his wife and child on to his
+horse without recognising them.  Then quickly he put his horse to the
+river, and soon they were plunging through it with the water sometimes
+more than half over them, and musket balls lashing the river around
+them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Ladoinski had recognised her husband the instant he placed her
+before him on his horse, and, overcome with joy, she had swooned before
+she could utter a word.  He remained quite unconscious of whom he had
+rescued until, in mid-stream, the shawl which had been over his wife's
+head and shoulders slipped and disclosed her face.  Joy did not cause
+the Polish captain to lose his wits, but made him more careful of his
+precious burden.  He had been in a reckless mood, courting death in
+fact, during the last quarter of an hour of the fight, but now he was
+anxious to live.  It would indeed be sad, he thought, if now, when
+safety was almost reached, a shot should lay him, or still worse, his
+wife, low.  But on through danger the brave horse struggled with his
+heavy load, and soon Captain Ladoinski was able to place his wife and
+son on dry land, and to give them the warmth and food which they sadly
+needed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then when Madame Ladoinski had recovered from the excitement of again
+meeting her husband, he told her that he had long since been assured
+that both she and their boy were dead.  He, as the wagon-drivers had
+sworn, had been thrown out of the wagon for dead, but some of his men
+came along soon after, and seeing him lying in the snow dismounted to
+see if he were alive.  Finding that his heart was beating, they set to
+work and restored him to consciousness, and then took him on to
+Smolensk, whence he sent back to enquire after his wife and child.  The
+message that was brought to him was that his wife and child had been
+murdered on the road.  Believing this to be true, he went on with his
+regiment&mdash;before they arrived at Smolensk&mdash;with henceforth only one aim
+in life&mdash;to avenge Poland's wrongs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The story of Captain Ladoinski's extraordinary rescue of his own wife
+and child created some excitement among Napoleon's soldiers, dispirited
+though they were by the terrible march they had undergone, and numerous
+and hearty were the congratulations which husband and wife received.
+Prince Eugène was one of the first to congratulate them, and Captain
+Ladoinski seized the opportunity to express his deep gratitude to the
+prince for the kindness he had shown to his wife in her sorrow, a
+kindness that was all the more creditable because Prince Eugène knew
+that Madame Ladoinski was a member of a Royalist family and an enemy of
+the Napoleonic dynasty.  For some considerable time after the terrible
+retreat from Moscow, Captain Ladoinski fought in Prince Eugène's army,
+but when, at last, the Prince's military career came to an end he
+retired into private life.  He had long since come to the conclusion
+that his wife was right when she said that Napoleon never had any
+intention of setting Poland free, but had obtained the services of the
+brave Poles under false pretences.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Madame Ladoinski deserved years of happy domestic life after her
+fearful experiences with the French army, and it is pleasant to be able
+to say that she had them.  Until death parted them, many years later,
+she and her husband enjoyed the happiness of a quiet life unclouded by
+domestic or political troubles.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0306"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+'Fighting Bob' was the nickname affectionately bestowed upon Sir Robert
+Sale by his comrades-in-arms.  Truly the name was well deserved, for
+wherever the fight was thickest there Sale was to be found, and the
+histories of his life abound with stories of his bravery and disregard
+of danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When twenty-seven years of age he married Florentia Wynch, a girl of
+nineteen, who proved before long to be almost as brave as he.
+Throughout his life she was his companion in danger, and many times
+nursed him back to health when seriously wounded.  Adventures such as
+are rarely encountered by women were continually falling to her lot,
+but the greatest hardships which she was compelled to undergo were
+those attending the British retreat from Kabul in January, 1842.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Discontent with British rule had led to rebellion in Afghanistan, and
+Sir Robert Sale was sent with a brigade to clear the passes to
+Jelalabad.  Lady Sale remained at Kabul, where the signs of discontent
+became daily more evident.  The British native troops were
+disheartened, and eventually it was decided to retreat from the city.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At half-past nine in the morning of January 6, 1842, the British force,
+consisting of about 4500 soldiers, mostly native, and 12,000 followers,
+quitted Kabul.  The snow lay a foot deep on the ground, and the
+thermometer registered several degrees below freezing-point.  The
+bullocks had great difficulty in dragging the guns, and it took two
+hours and a half to cover the first mile.  This slow rate of progress
+was not, however, entirely due to the state of the weather, as some of
+the delay was caused by a bridge of boats having to be made across the
+Kabul river, which lay about half a mile from the city.  The camp
+followers refused to cross by any means but a bridge, but Lady Sale and
+her daughter, Mrs. Sturt, rode through with the horsemen.  Immediately
+they reached the opposite bank their clothes froze stiff, and they
+could not change them for others, for as the rear-guard quitted the
+city the Afghans fired upon them and captured, without meeting any
+resistance, nearly the whole of the baggage, commissariat and
+ammunition.  That night the British force, cold, hungry and dispirited,
+slept in the snow.  There were no tents, but an officer erected a small
+pall over the hole in the snow where Lady Sale and her daughter lay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At half-past seven on the following morning the march was resumed, but
+the force had not proceeded far when a party of Afghans sallied out
+from a small fort and carried off three guns.  The British fought
+bravely, but the sepoys made scarcely any resistance, and hundreds of
+them fled for their lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the British force advanced they saw the Afghans gathering in
+strength on either side, and before they had gone five miles they were
+compelled to spike and abandon two six-pounders, the horses not having
+sufficient strength to drag them.  They were now in possession of only
+two guns and very little ammunition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Men, hungry and numbed with cold, dropped out of the ranks, to be left
+to die from starvation, or to be massacred by the enemy.  Another night
+was spent in the open, and when daylight came there were many frozen
+corpses lying on the ground.  The troops were now utterly disorganised,
+and the Afghans continued to harass them, both while bivouacing and on
+the march.  It was a terrible time, but Lady Sale was calm, and
+endeavoured to instil with courage other women of the party.  Soon the
+British arrived at a spot where, some time previously, Sir Robert Sale
+had been wounded, and there a fierce attack was made upon them.  A ball
+entered Lady Sales' arm, her clothes were riddled with bullets, and her
+escape seemed impossible, so fierce was the fire of the enemy, who were
+in a strong position about fifty yards distant.  Nevertheless she did
+escape, but only to find that her daughter's husband, Lieutenant Sturt,
+had been mortally wounded.  Five hundred soldiers and two thousand five
+hundred camp followers were killed, and many women and children were
+carried off by the Afghans.  Others lay dying in the fast-falling snow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Sale and her daughter were in great distress at the death of
+Lieutenant Sturt, and took little interest in the proposal that all the
+women should be placed under the protection of Mahommed Akbar Khan, who
+had suggested this step.  However, with the other women, they accepted
+the proffered protection, and were taken to a fort in the Khurd Kabul,
+and eventually they heard that the force with which they had quitted
+Kabul had been annihilated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On January 17, Lady Sale and her companions, among whom were now
+several British officers whom Mahommed Akbar Khan had captured, arrived
+at Badiabad, where, in a small mud fort the party, consisting of 9
+women, 20 men and 14 children, were kept prisoners.  However, they were
+not molested, and as food of a kind was supplied to them, they did not
+complain.  Their uncomfortable surroundings were, however, made more
+unpleasant by a series of earthquakes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On February 19, Lady Sale was spreading some clothes out to dry on the
+flat roof of the fort, when a terrible shock occurred, causing the
+place to collapse.  Lady Sale fell with the building, but rose from the
+ruins unhurt.  Even the wounds received by her on the day Lieutenant
+Sturt was killed were not aggravated by the accident.  Before dark that
+day there were twenty-five distinct shocks, and about fifteen more
+during the night.  For some weeks after this they were constantly
+occurring.  At one spot, not far away, 120 Afghans and 20 Hindus were
+buried in the ruins of buildings shaken to the ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During her captivity Lady Sale had been able to write letters to her
+husband, who was shut up with his garrison in Jelalabad, and her great
+desire was that he should be able to hold the place until relief
+arrived.  On March 15 a rumour reached her that it had been captured by
+the Afghans, but to her great delight she heard later that the rumour
+was false.  She was exceedingly proud of her husband, and gloried in
+his successes.  A successful defence of the city would, she knew, add
+considerably to his reputation.  During the following five months Lady
+Sale and her daughter were continually being moved from one place to
+another, and before long it became clear to them that the Afghan
+rebellion was being rapidly quelled.  Rumours of British victories
+reached them, and the man who was in charge of them, while moving from
+place to place, made it understood that for Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 1000 a
+month for life he would effect their escape.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But soon, on September 15, the good news was received that the British
+were coming to their rescue, and, guided by the bribed Afghan, Lady
+Sale and her companions moved off secretly to meet them.  Two days
+later they arrived at the foot of the Kalu Pass, where they met Sir
+Richmond Shakespeare, with 600 native horsemen, coming to their rescue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Sale was naturally anxious to hear of her husband's doings, and
+Sir Richmond Shakespeare was able to make her happy by telling her of
+how gallantly he had defended Jelalabad.  Soon, however, she heard from
+his own lips the story of his defence.  On September 19, a horseman
+arrived with a message from Sir Robert Sale, saying that he was
+advancing with a brigade.  Lady Sale had been feeling weak for several
+days, but the news of her husband's approach gave her fresh strength.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'It is impossible to express our feelings on Sale's approach,' she
+wrote in her diary.  'To my daughter and myself happiness so long
+delayed as to be almost unexpected was actually painful, and
+accompanied by a choking sensation which could not obtain the relief of
+tears.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men loudly cheered Lady Sale and her daughter, and pressed forward
+to express their hearty congratulations at their escape.  'And then,'
+Lady Sale continued in her diary, 'my highly-wrought feelings found the
+desired relief; and I could scarcely speak to thank the soldiers for
+their sympathy, whilst the long withheld tears now found their course.
+On arriving at the camp, Captain Backhouse fired a royal salute from
+his mountain train guns; and not only our old friends, but all the
+officers in the party, came to offer congratulations and welcome our
+return from captivity.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a visit to England, Sir Robert and Lady Sale returned to India in
+March, 1844.  Towards the end of the following year the Sikh War broke
+out, and at the battle of Mudki, fought on December 18, Sir Robert's
+left thigh was shattered by a grape shot, and he died three days later.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lady Sale continued to reside in India after her husband's death, her
+comfort secured by a pension of £500 a year, granted to her by Queen
+Victoria, as a mark of approbation of her own and Sir Robert's conduct.
+She died at Cape Town, which she was visiting for the benefit of her
+health, on July 6, 1853, aged sixty-three.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0307"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD,
+<BR>
+AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Until late in the last century it was a common thing for the ruler of a
+native Eastern state to celebrate his accession to the throne by
+slaughtering his brothers and uncles.  This drastic measure reduced the
+possibilities of the new ruler being deposed, and was considered by the
+majority of the natives a wise precaution.  The Maharajah of Manipur
+was more humane than many rulers, and although he had seven brothers,
+he refrained from killing any of them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For several years the brothers lived on friendly terms with each other,
+but eventually quarrels arose through two of them wanting to marry the
+same woman.  The eight brothers divided into two parties, and
+quarrelled so incessantly, that the maharajah deemed it wise to
+abdicate and leave the country.  Mr. Grimwood the British Political
+Agent, did his utmost to dissuade the  maharajah from abdicating, but
+without success.  He departed, and one of his brothers became ruler.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Grimwood and his wife had lived for three years in Manipur when the
+maharajah abdicated, and during that time the natives had always been
+friendly towards them.  Even the royal brothers, while quarrelling
+among themselves, maintained their usual friendly relations with them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Manipur is an out-of-the-way place, lying in the heart of the
+mountainous region, which is bordered on the north by the Assam Valley,
+on the east and south by Burma, and on the west by the Cachar district.
+During the greater portion of their stay in Manipur Mr. and Mrs.
+Grimwood were the only white people in the place, and consequently the
+news that the Chief Commissioner was on his way to hold a durbar at the
+Residency afforded them much pleasure.  But the information that his
+excellency was accompanied by 400 men of the 42nd and 44th Ghurkhas,
+made it clear that some political event of considerable importance was
+about to take place.  The Chief Commissioner had, in fact, decided to
+arrest the jubraj, the maharajah's brother, at the durbar which was
+fixed for eight o'clock in the morning of March 23, 1891.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the jubraj had his suspicions aroused by the military force which
+accompanied the Chief Commissioner.  He did not attend the durbar, but
+sent a message to say that he was too unwell to be present.  Four hours
+later, Mr. Grimwood was sent to the palace to inform the jubraj that he
+was to be arrested and banished, and to persuade him to surrender
+peacefully.  This the jubraj refused to do, and consequently it was
+decided to storm the palace and capture him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fighting began on the following day, shortly before daybreak.  The
+palace walls, some sixty yards from the Residency, and separated from
+it by an unfordable moat, were loop-holed, and soon a fierce fire was
+opened on the attackers.  Mrs. Grimwood sought shelter in the little
+telegraph office, but bullets were soon crashing through it, and her
+position was one of extreme danger, but after the first fright she
+settled down to help the doctor attend to the wounded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The British attack on the palace was not, however, successful, and the
+Manipuris crept round to the back of the Residency, and made an attack
+upon it.  They were beaten off, but the British force was soon in a
+critical position; for, shortly after 4 o'clock, some big guns opened
+fire on the Residency, where the whole of the force was now
+concentrated.  Mrs. Grimwood states in her book, <I>My Three Years in
+Manipur</I>, that the first shell fired at the Residency made her
+speechless with fear; but others who were present state that a few
+minutes later she was hard at work attending to the wounded under fire.
+The cellars under the Residency were used as a hospital, and terrible
+were the sights which the brave woman witnessed.  Every hour the
+position of the British became more desperate.  Men were falling
+quickly, and the ammunition was running out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last a message was sent to the jubraj asking on what conditions he
+would cease firing on the Residency.  His reply was to the effect that
+the British must surrender unconditionally.  Finding that the British
+would not agree to this, he sent word that if the Chief Commissioner
+would come to the palace gates he would discuss terms with him.  His
+excellency and Mr. Grimwood went forward, but as they reached the gates
+they were pushed inside the palace enclosure, and the gates closed
+behind them.  Then the Manipuris shouted that the white men were
+prisoners, and again opened fire on the Residency.  The British troops
+replied, but their position was now critical.  Very little ammunition
+remained, and shells were bursting over the Residency.  One burst near
+to Mrs. Grimwood's feet, but fortunately she only received a slight
+wound in the arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At midnight the British officers decided to evacuate the Residency and
+retreat to Cachar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Grimwood being the only person who knew the way to the Cachar
+road, acted as guide, and led the retreating force through hedges, over
+mud walls, and across a river.  Looking back when they had gone four
+miles, Mrs. Grimwood saw that the Residency, her home for three happy
+years, was in flames.  Her husband a prisoner, and her home destroyed,
+it would not have been surprising if Mrs. Grimwood had been too
+grief-stricken to continue the journey on foot.  But she plodded on
+bravely in her thin house-shoes, and with her clothes heavy with water.
+Sometimes the hills were so steep that she had to climb them on hands
+and knees, but she never complained, and did not hamper the progress of
+the force.  Not until twenty miles had been covered did she have a
+rest, and then, thoroughly exhausted, she wrapped herself in the
+overcoats which the officers lent her, and lay down and slept.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few hours later the retreating force, hungry, tired and somewhat
+dispirited, resumed its march.  Mrs. Grimwood's feet were cut and sore,
+but she tramped on bravely in the military boots which had been given
+her to replace her thin worn-out shoes.  They had now travelled beyond
+the country with which Mrs. Grimwood was familiar, and no one knew the
+way.  They pushed on in the direction which they believed to be the
+right one, but without being able to obtain anything to eat.  When,
+however, they had been two days without food, they came suddenly upon
+some Manipuri soldiers cooking rice.  The Manipuris, taken by surprise,
+fled quickly, leaving their rice to fall into the hands of the starving
+British force.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Refreshed by the meal which they had so unexpectedly obtained, the
+British resumed their journey, but they had not gone far when they
+found a stockade barring their way.  The defenders opened fire on them
+at once, and as the British had no ammunition they rushed the stockade,
+causing the Manipuris to run for their lives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The British officers now decided to remain for a time in the captured
+stockade, but soon a large body of men was seen advancing towards it.
+Were they Ghurkhas or Manipuris?  No one could tell, and reliance could
+not be placed on a bugle call, as both Ghurkhas and Manipuris had the
+same one.  It was believed by the majority that the advancing men were
+Manipuris, and one of the officers told Mrs. Grimwood that he had two
+cartridges left, one for her and one for himself, if the men proved to
+be the enemy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But they were not the enemy.  A sharp-eyed man discovered a white
+officer among the advancing soldiers, and this was ample proof that
+they were Ghurkhas.  A cheer from the stockade was answered by one from
+the approaching men, who were proceeding to Manipur, but had only heard
+a few hours before of the retreat of their comrades-in-arms.  They had
+plenty of provisions with them, and quickly gave the tired, hungry men
+a good meal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The remainder of the journey to the frontier was made in comparative
+comfort, but Mrs. Grimwood's trials were not yet ended.  Soon the sad
+news of her husband's death was broken to her.  He and his fellow
+prisoner had been executed with horrible brutality by order of the
+jubraj.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The story of Mrs. Grimwood's heroism in attending to the wounded under
+fire, and her bravery during the long and trying retreat, aroused
+admiration throughout the civilized world.  In consideration of her
+exceptional services, the Secretary of State for India in Council
+awarded her a pension of £140 a year, and a special grant of £1000.
+The Princess of Wales&mdash;our present Queen&mdash;was exceedingly kind to her,
+and Queen Victoria invited her to Windsor Castle, and decorated her
+with the well-deserved Red Cross.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0308"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In December, 1880, a detachment of the 2nd Connaught Rangers was
+escorting a wagon-train, nearly a mile in length, from Leydenberg to
+Pretoria.  Until more than half the journey had been travelled the
+Boers, whom the British met on the way, had shown no disposition to be
+unfriendly, but, one morning, as the convoy slowly wended its way up a
+hill, studded with clumps of trees, a strong force of Boers jumped out
+from their places of concealment and called upon the British to
+surrender.  They sent forward, under a flag of truce, a written demand
+to that effect, but, seeing that the British officer in command had no
+intention to order his men to lay down their arms, they treacherously
+disregarded the white flag that was flying, and opened fire upon the
+convoy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The British were caught in an ambush, and the Boers, who greatly
+outnumbered them, wrought terrible havoc.  The Boers were concealed
+behind trees and stones, but the British could obtain scarcely any
+cover.  Their colonel was mortally wounded early in the fight, and soon
+there was only one officer unhurt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the attack on the convoy began there were three women in one of
+the wagons.  Mrs. Marion Smith, widow of the late bandmaster, was
+travelling down country, with her two children, to sail on a troopship
+for England.  The other two women were Mrs. Fox, wife of the
+sergeant-major, and Mrs. Maistre, wife of the orderly-room clerk.
+Scarcely had the massacre begun when Mrs. Fox received a bullet wound
+as she sat in the wagon, and fell backwards, badly hurt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre were naturally alarmed at finding
+themselves suddenly in a position of such great danger.  But they were
+soldiers' wives, and soon all fear vanished, and having made Mrs.
+Smith's children comparatively safe in a corner of the wagon they
+stepped out to render aid to the wounded.  It was a terrible sight for
+them.  The ground was strewn with dead and dying, and nearly every face
+was familiar to them.  Regardless of the bullets that whizzed past
+them&mdash;one grazed Mrs. Smith's ear they tore up sheets to make bandages,
+and passing from one wounded man to another, stanched the flow of blood
+and bound the wounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, when it became clear to the mortally wounded colonel that the
+annihilation of his force would be the result of a continuation of the
+fight, the 'Cease fire' was sounded, and the outnumbered British
+delivered up their arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldiers' work was finished; Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre had still
+much to do.  On the battle-field the wounded lay thick, and for hours
+the two brave women worked at their self-appointed task.  Many a dying
+lad had his last minutes made happy by their kindly words and actions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From December 20 until March 31, 1881, the three women remained
+prisoners in the hands of the Boers.  They might, had they cared to do
+so, have led lives of idleness during their imprisonment, but, instead,
+they were busy from morning until night nursing the wounded.  Mrs.
+Fox's courage was indeed wonderful, for the wound she had received in
+the attack was very serious, and the doctors had told her that she
+could not expect to live long.  Her husband, too, had been severely
+wounded early in the fight, but nevertheless she was as indefatigable
+as Mrs. Maistre and Mrs. Smith in doing good.  The three women were
+adored by the wounded soldiers, for whom they wrote letters home,
+prepared dainty food, and read.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When peace was declared the three brave women returned to England, and
+Mrs. Smith was decorated with the medal of the Order of St. John of
+Jerusalem.  She was reported, in the application that was made on her
+behalf, to have been 'unremitting in her attention to the wounded and
+dying soldiers during the action, and that her conduct while living
+under canvas was beyond all praise.  She did the utmost to relieve the
+sufferings of the men in hospital, and soothed the last moments of many
+a poor soldier, while sharing their privations to the full.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a time Mrs. Smith's whereabouts became unknown to the
+authorities; they did not in fact know whether she were alive, and
+consequently she was not recommended for the Red Cross.  Mrs. Fox and
+Mrs. Maistre received the coveted decoration, but the former did not
+long survive the honour.  She died in January, 1888, at Cambridge
+Barracks, Portsmouth, and in making her death known to the regiment the
+colonel said:&mdash;'Mrs. Fox died a soldier's death, as her fatal illness
+was the result of a wound received in action, and aggravated in
+consequence of her noble self-devotion afterwards.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Commander-in-Chief&mdash;H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge&mdash;ordered that
+military honours should be paid to the dead woman.  It was a very
+unusual thing, but the honour was well-merited, and crowds lined the
+streets to see the coffin borne past on a gun carriage.  Over the
+coffin was laid a Union Jack, and on this was placed the brave woman's
+Red Cross.  The men who bore her from the gun carriage to her grave in
+Southsea Cemetery were six non-commissioned officers who had been
+wounded in the fight of December 20, 1880, and whom she had nursed.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+* It is interesting to note that the publication of this volume quickly
+led to Mrs. Smith (now Mrs. Jeffreys) being traced; and, in response to
+an appeal to the War office, the authorities awarded the heroine the
+coveted decoration of the Royal Red Cross.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0401"></A>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+IV.
+</H2>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+'The Indians are coming!'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was on September 1, 1782, that a scout employed to watch the
+movements of the Red Indians rushed into the West Virginian village of
+Wheeling, shouting the dreaded warning of the savages' approach.
+Instantly the inhabitants took refuge in the fort, and prepared to
+offer a determined resistance.  The fort had no regular garrison, it
+being the duty of the settlers to defend it.  Colonel Silas Zane took
+command, and felt confident that, although he had only twenty men under
+him, he would be able to beat off the savages.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Governor of Wheeling was Colonel Ebenezer Zane, and with two white
+men he decided to remain in his private residence, which was about
+forty yards from the fort, to prevent the ammunition which was stored
+there from falling into the hands of the Indians.  The scout who had
+brought the news of the Indians' approach was soon followed by the
+savages themselves, who, brandishing their tomahawks and waving their
+scalping-knives, instantly demanded the surrender of the white men.
+The reply they received was a volley fired at the standard which they
+bore aloft.  With a terrible war-whoop the Indians rushed to the
+assault, but the men in the fort and in the house were good shots, and
+it was rarely that one of them missed his mark.  Happily, there was a
+good stock of arms in both strongholds, and taking advantage of this,
+the women loaded the muskets and handed them to the men, who were thus
+enabled to fire quickly and were spared the fatigue of loading.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again and again the Indians attacked the house and the fort, but on
+every occasion they were driven back.  When darkness came on the
+attacks ceased, but the white men did not grow less vigilant, for they
+were confident that before daybreak the savages would make an attempt
+to surprise them.  And this proved to be the case.  In the dead of
+night one of the defenders espied an Indian crawling towards the house.
+He watched him until he rose to his feet and kindling a torch that he
+carried, attempted to set fire to the building.  Then the watcher
+fired, and the Indian dropping his torch fled, wounded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At daybreak it was seen that the Indians were still surrounding the
+fort and the house, and that they were evidently unusually excited.
+Could they have captured any of the defenders?  Enquiries shouted from
+the fort to the house elicited the assurance that no one was missing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion at the spot when the Indians
+were thickest, and the surprised white men could see that several of
+the enemy had been killed and many injured.  The explosion was caused
+in this way: On the preceding evening, after the firing had ceased,
+some of the Indians surprised a boat ascending the river with cannon
+balls for the fort.  The boatman escaped, but the cannon balls fell
+into the hands of the Indians, who believed that all they now wanted to
+demolish the house and fort was a cannon.  Therefore they decided to
+make one.  They procured a log of wood, bound it tightly with chains,
+and then made a hole in it large enough to admit the ball.  Then they
+charged it heavily, and when it was pointed towards the fort the match
+was applied.  Instantly the cannon burst, killing many of the men who
+stood near and injuring others.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This accident did not, as one might suppose, dishearten the Indians.
+On the contrary, it excited them to further efforts to capture the
+whites.  Maddened with excitement they rushed boldly forward to the
+attack, but the steady, deadly fire which the defenders maintained
+drove them back time after time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But now the defenders in the fort began to get anxious, for their stock
+of gunpowder was nearly exhausted.  There was a plentiful supply at the
+house, and someone would have to undertake the perilous task of running
+to it and returning under fire with a keg of powder.  There were plenty
+of volunteers for this dangerous undertaking, but among them was a
+woman&mdash;Elizabeth Zane, the youngest sister of the two Colonels Zane.
+She had been educated in Philadelphia, and until her arrival at
+Wheeling, a few weeks previously, had experienced none of the hardships
+of frontier life.  But now, in the hour of danger, she was brave as if
+she had been brought up in the midst of stirring scenes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was pointed out to her that a man would run less risk than she, from
+the fact of his being able to run faster; but she answered that if he
+were shot in the act, his loss would be severely felt.  'You have not
+one man to spare, she declared.  'A woman will not be missed in the
+defence of the fort.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men did not like the idea of allowing her to run so great a risk,
+but she overcame their objections, and started on her perilous journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The moment the gate was opened she bounded through, and ran at full
+speed towards the house.  Surprised at her sudden appearance in the
+open, the Indians seized their muskets, but quickly recognizing that
+she was a woman they exclaimed, 'Only a squaw,' and did not fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Arriving at the house she announced to Colonel Ebenezer Zane the object
+of her journey, whereupon he fastened a table-cloth around her waist,
+and emptied a keg of powder into it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The moment that she appeared again in the open, the Indians noticed the
+table-cloth around her waist, and, guessing at once that she was
+carrying to the fort something that was necessary for its defence;
+promptly opened fire on her.  Undeterred by the bullets which whizzed
+past her Elizabeth Zane ran quickly towards the fort; and reached it in
+safety.  It is needless to say that the brave young woman received an
+enthusiastic greeting from the garrison who had witnessed with
+admiration her daring act.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The defenders of the fort, their stock of ammunition replenished,
+fought with renewed confidence when the Indians again attacked, and
+repulsed them with a deadly fire.  As time went on the assaults became
+less frequent, and on the third night they finally ceased.  The task of
+massacring the settlers of Wheeling had, contrary to the Indians'
+expectation, been too formidable for them, and therefore they raised
+the siege and crept quietly away by night.  Their losses had been
+great, but during the three days' fighting the casualties of the
+defenders were only two men wounded.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0402"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In the tiny cabin of a canal-boat which had but recently started on its
+long journey from the Midlands to London, lay a woman seriously ill.
+And by her side lay her two days' old baby.  Her husband was on deck
+steering the boat, but every few minutes he hurried down to see if
+there were anything he could do to make his wife comfortable.  He could
+do but little, however.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Never before had he felt so helpless; never had he experienced so
+acutely the isolation of barge-life.  The district through which he was
+travelling was thinly populated, and to obtain a doctor the bargeman
+would have to trudge some miles across country, leaving his wife alone
+on the canal.  He could not leave her unattended, and consoled himself
+with the hope that before long he would meet someone whom he could send
+for a doctor.  But he was disappointed; he met no one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last he arrived at Stoke Bruerne, in Northamptonshire, and, having
+tied up his barge, hurried to the post-office&mdash;a little general shop
+kept by Mrs. Nellie Amos, who was well-known to the canal boatmen.  He
+told her of his wife's illness, and asked her if she would be good
+enough to come to his barge and see if she could discover the nature of
+her illness.  Without the slightest hesitation Mrs. Amos accompanied
+the man to his barge, and found his wife very feverish.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Amos could not discover what was the matter with the invalid, but
+one thing was very plain to her&mdash;the poor woman could not be expected
+to get well in her present quarters.  The cabin was low-roofed, about
+eight feet by six in size, and near the door stood the stove in which
+the meals were cooked.  In such close quarters the sick woman had
+little chance of recovery, and Mrs. Amos did not conceal this fact from
+the husband.  She told him also that if a doctor would certify that she
+could be removed with safety, she would take her to her house and nurse
+her and the baby.  As soon as the bargeman hurried away to fetch a
+doctor, Mrs. Amos made the sick woman some beef-tea, tidied the bed,
+and took charge of the baby.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The doctor was soon with the patient, and, having examined her, gave
+his permission for her removal to Mrs. Amos's house, to which she was
+quickly taken.  Mrs. Amos had a husband and six children, and her house
+was a small one; but nevertheless she was able to give the mother and
+baby a comfortable room.  Day after day she nursed them tenderly, but
+to her surprise the mother did not show any signs of improvement.  The
+doctor came regularly to see her, and one day, when he had been
+attending her for about a week, he announced that she was suffering
+from small-pox.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a few minutes Mrs. Amos was overcome with horror at the danger to
+which she had unintentionally subjected her six children.  Nearly all
+of them had nursed the baby and waited on the sick woman, and it seemed
+to her certain that they would be stricken down with the disease.  It
+would probably spread through the village, and she would be the cause
+of the sorrow that would ensue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+These fears she soon overcame, and bravely faced the danger.  She
+declared that she would not have the poor creature removed from the
+house unless the doctor insisted upon it, and that she would continue
+to nurse her.  The patient was allowed to remain, but steps were, of
+course, taken to guard against the disease spreading.  The shop was
+closed, and Mrs. Amos's only means of earning a living was gone, at any
+rate for a time.  Her children were sent away, and watched carefully
+for any signs of the disease appearing in them.  Anxiety concerning her
+own family and the loss occasioned by the suspension of her business
+might well have made her willing to hand over to the local medical
+authorities the innocent cause of her trouble.  But Mrs. Amos would not
+relinquish her self-imposed duty.  She nursed mother and child as
+tenderly as if they had been her relatives, and if it had been possible
+to save their lives they would have been saved.  The child died, and a
+week later the woman herself passed away.  Happily, neither Mrs. Amos
+nor any of her children contracted the disease.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'I prayed earnestly that God would spare the village,' Mrs. Amos told
+the writer of this book, 'and He did.  Not one case resulted from it.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was some time before the little shop was re-opened, but many people,
+hearing of Mrs. Amos's bravery, came forward to help her tide over her
+difficulties.  The landlord set a good example by sending her a receipt
+for rent which she had been unable to pay, and several Brentford
+ladies, having been told of her conduct by Mr. R. Bamber, the London
+City missionary to bargemen, presented her with a tea and coffee
+service.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0403"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Anna Gurney was a cripple from her birth.  Unable to walk, and
+consequently debarred nearly all the pleasures of childhood, it would
+not have been surprising had she become a sad, peevish woman.  The fact
+that her parents were rich, and able to supply her with comforts such
+as poor cripples could not receive, may have prevented her from
+becoming depressed, but it must be remembered also that the knowledge
+that they were in a position to give her every reasonable pleasure a
+girl could desire might well have caused her to be continually
+deploring her crippled condition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not, however, brood over her infirmity, and although she was
+never entirely free from pain, she was always bright and happy.
+Intellectually clever, she was ever anxious for self-improvement, and
+her knowledge of languages was remarkable.  No sooner had she become
+thoroughly conversant with one than she began to learn another.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Early in life she became deeply interested in foreign missions, and in
+after years was a generous supporter of them.  Her desire to do good
+was not, however, satisfied by the money she gave to various societies,
+and being unable to offer herself as a missionary to the heathen, she
+found a sphere of usefulness in working to improve the moral and
+spiritual condition of the poor of Cromer.  She invited the mothers to
+her home, North Repps Cottage, and held classes for young men, young
+women and children.  Humble visitors were continually calling to tell
+her of their joys or sorrows, and were never refused admittance.  She
+might be busy in her library or suffering acute pain, but with a bright
+smile she would wheel herself forward in her mechanical chair to greet
+her visitor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fishermen along the coast regarded her with reverence, for she was
+their friend, adviser and patron.  For many years she could be seen
+almost daily on the foreshore with a little group of weather-beaten men
+around her.  She knew the dangers and disappointments of their calling,
+and was genuinely delighted whenever she heard that the fleet had
+returned with a good catch.  And when the boats were out and a storm
+sprang up, she was anxious as any fish-wife for their safety.  At her
+own expense she provided a lifeboat and complete apparatus for saving
+life, and, with the thoroughness characteristic of her, she made
+herself at once acquainted with the proper working of it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whenever there was a shipwreck, she would be down on the shore giving
+directions for the rescue of the people aboard the vessel.  No matter
+the weather or the hour, she was always on the spot.  Many a time the
+news came to her in the middle of the night that there was a ship in
+distress, and in a few minutes her man was wheeling her quickly down to
+the shore.  The wind might be howling, the rain falling in torrents,
+but this did not deter her from being at her self-appointed post.  When
+she first came out in rough weather, the fishermen begged her to return
+home, but they soon discovered that she was determined to remain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the boat had been launched she would remain in the cold, waiting
+anxiously for its return.  Often she was in great pain, but only her
+attendant was aware of this.  To the fisher-folk she would be cheerful,
+and express confidence that her lifeboat would rescue all aboard the
+ship.  And when the lifeboat did return with the rescued people, who
+were sometimes half dead from exposure, there was more self-imposed
+work for her.  She superintended the treatment of the shipwrecked folk,
+and arranged where they were to be taken.  Many were removed to her own
+house, and kept there until they were able to proceed to their homes or
+to London.  So kindly were the rescued people treated, that it became a
+saying along the East Coast, that to be taken care of by Miss Gurney,
+it was worth while being shipwrecked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Anna Gurney died at Cromer in June, 1857, aged sixty-one.  She was
+buried in Overstrand Churchyard, being carried to her last
+resting-place by fishermen who had known and loved her for many years.
+The news of her death had spread rapidly along the coast, and over a
+thousand fishermen were present at her funeral.  Their sorrow was
+great, and they were not ashamed to show it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The following lines, written by Anna Gurney on the death of a friend
+whom she dearly loved, might truly have been her own epitaph;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+Within this frame, by Jesu's grace,<BR>
+High gifts and holy held their place;<BR>
+A noble heart, a mighty mind,<BR>
+Were here in bonds of clay confined.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0404"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+There was rejoicing at Redbraes Castle, Berwickshire, in February,
+1676, for Sir Patrick Hume had returned home after seventeen months'
+imprisonment in Stirling Castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one was more delighted at his return than his little ten years' old
+daughter, Grizel, who loved him dearly, and was proud that he had
+suffered imprisonment for conscience sake.  He had been imprisoned as
+'a factious person,' because he refused to contribute to the support of
+the soldiers stationed in the country for the suppression of the
+meetings of the Covenanters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel was a very intelligent child, and surprised her father by her
+knowledge of the political events of the day, and her detestation of
+the Government.  Some men would have been simply amused at her interest
+in politics, but Sir Patrick saw that she was an exceptionally clever
+child, and told her many things which he would have confided to few of
+her seniors.  One thing that he told her was of his desire to get a
+letter conveyed to his friend Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode, who was
+confined in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for rescuing a minister&mdash;his
+brother-in-law&mdash;from the hands of the Government's servants.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel at once volunteered to take the letter, and having overcome her
+father's objections to sending her on such a dangerous mission, she
+started on her long journey to Edinburgh, which she reached without
+mishap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Being at Edinburgh she had now to devise some means of getting into
+Robert Baillie's prison.  For a child of her age to outwit the prison
+officials one would think an impossibility; but she did.  Joanna
+Baillie states that she slipped in, noiselessly and unobserved, behind
+the jailer, and hid in a dark corner until he withdrew, when she
+stepped forward and presented the letter to the astonished prisoner.
+Whether or not this be true, it is a fact that she gained admission to
+the prison, delivered her letter, and escaped with the reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two years later, Sir Patrick Hume was again arrested, and although he
+was neither tried nor told of what he was accused, he was kept in
+prison for fifteen months.  At first he was confined at Edinburgh, but
+afterwards he was removed to Dumbarton Castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At both of these places Grizel was allowed to visit him, but the
+authorities never suspected that such a child would be used as a
+political messenger.  In the presence of the jailer she would give Sir
+Patrick news of home.  She showered kisses upon him, and delivered
+loving messages from her mother, sisters, and brothers.  But when the
+jailer had withdrawn she gave her father an account of the movements of
+his political friends, and delivered many important verbal messages,
+which they had entrusted to her.  By her means Sir Patrick was kept
+informed of his friends' actions, and was able to assist them by his
+advice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On being released from Dumbarton Castle he returned to his home in
+Berwickshire, and for a time led a peaceful life, conscious that the
+Government would have him arrested again if they could find a pretext
+for doing so.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In October, 1683, information was brought to him that his friend,
+Robert Baillie, had been arrested in London, and imprisoned for alleged
+connection with the Rye House Plot.  Sir Patrick's friendship for
+Robert Baillie was well known, and Grizel feared that her father would
+soon be arrested on a similar charge.  Sir Patrick was of the same
+opinion, but the Government did not act with the promptitude he had
+expected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not until nearly a year had elapsed that a lady sent word to him
+that soldiers had arrived at her house, and that she had discovered
+that they were on their way to arrest him.  Instant flight was
+imperative, for there was no place in Redbraes Castle in which he could
+conceal himself from soldiers skilled in searching for enemies of the
+Government.  His wife and Grizel&mdash;the only people in the castle who
+knew of his danger&mdash;discussed with him the most likely means of
+escaping detection, and finally it was decided that he should hide in
+the family vault in Polwarth Church, which stood about a mile and a
+half from Redbraes Castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the middle of the night Grizel and a carpenter named Winter carried
+bed and bedding to the vault.  It was a weird hiding-place for Sir
+Patrick, as the vault was littered with the skulls and bones of his
+ancestors.  Grizel shuddered at the sight, but she knew that the vault
+was the only place which the soldiers would be unlikely to search.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They arrived at Redbraes Castle confident that they would find Sir
+Patrick there, and great was their surprise when they searched it from
+cellar to turret without finding him.  Even then they would not believe
+that he had escaped them, so they made a second and still more thorough
+search.  Every cottage, stable, and shed in the neighbourhood of the
+castle was searched, but no one examined the vaults in Polwarth Church.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir Patrick Hume was safe from discovery in his gruesome hiding-place,
+but he could not live without food, and the difficulty was to convey it
+to him without being detected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This dangerous task Grizel, now nineteen years of age, undertook, and
+every night, when all in the castle but herself were asleep, she crept
+out with a stock of provisions for her father, and trudged the mile and
+a half of country which lay between the castle and Polwarth Church.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a trying journey for Grizel, for not only had she to fear being
+seen by the soldiers, or some villager out late on poaching bent, but
+she believed implicitly in ghosts&mdash;as did the majority of people in
+those days.  Frequently she was startled by the cry of a bird aroused
+by her footsteps, and on several occasions a dog detected her, and
+barked furiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It can easily be understood that Grizel's visits were a great comfort
+to Sir Patrick, for she was the only person who ventured to go to him.
+She would spread out on the little table in the vault the provisions
+which she had brought him, and while he ate his supper she amused him
+by humorously relating the difficulties she met in obtaining them.
+Lady Hume, Winter and herself were the only people who knew that Sir
+Patrick was in the neighbourhood.  Grizel's brothers and sisters and
+the servants believed that he had fled from the country, and Grizel was
+very anxious that they should not be undeceived, for the children might
+unintentionally divulge the secret, and among the servants there were,
+possibly, some who would be ready to earn a reward by betraying their
+master.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But her fear of admitting the children and servants into her secret
+made the task of obtaining provisions exceedingly difficult.  Had they
+seen her taking food into her room, they would at once have suspected
+that it was for her father, and that he was somewhere close at hand.
+The only way in which she could get the food she required for him was
+by slipping some of her dinner from her plate into her lap.  This was
+not an easy thing to do without being detected by some of her brothers
+and sisters, of whom there were many at table, she being the eldest but
+two of eighteen children.  Once she feared that she had been
+discovered.  Her mother had given her a large helping of chicken,
+knowing well that the greater portion of it would be taken that night
+to Sir Patrick.  One of Grizel's younger brothers had noticed the large
+helping she had received, and was somewhat jealous that he had not been
+served as liberally.  A few moments later he glanced again at her
+plate, and saw to his surprise that it was nearly empty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a brother's acknowledged right to make personal remarks, he loudly
+called attention to the fact that Grizel had eaten nearly all her big
+helping before anyone else had scarcely started.  Lady Hume promptly
+reprimanded the boy, and ordered him to confine his attention to his
+own plate.  The youngster made no further remarks concerning his
+sister's appetite, but Grizel often found him glancing at her during
+meals, and was in constant fear that he would detect her slipping the
+food into her lap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After giving her father the day's news of home and political events she
+would start on her return journey, leaving Sir Patrick alone for
+another twenty-four hours in his gruesome hiding-place.  Many men would
+have been driven out of their mind by a month's sojourn in a
+skull-and-bone-littered tomb, but Sir Patrick was a man of high
+spirits, and his daughter never once found him depressed.  During a
+previous imprisonment he had committed to memory Buchanan's translation
+of the Psalms, and he obtained much comfort from repeating them while
+in the Polwarth vault.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day as he sat at his little table deep in thought he fancied that
+he saw a skull lying on the floor move slightly.  He watched it, and
+saw to his surprise that it was undoubtedly moving.  He was not
+alarmed, but stretching out his cane turned over the skull and startled
+a mouse from underneath it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel was determined that her father should not remain in the vault
+longer than was absolutely necessary, and with the assistance of the
+trusty Winter was preparing a hiding-place for him at the castle.
+There was a room on the ground floor, the key of which was kept by
+Grizel, and under this they dug a big hole with their bare hands,
+fearing that the sound of a spade, if used, would be heard.  Night
+after night, when all but they two were asleep, they scratched out the
+earth, and placed it on a sheet spread on the floor.  Then, when their
+night's work was done, they silently opened the window and emptied the
+earth into the garden  The hole in the floor they covered by placing a
+bed over it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, when Grizel's finger nails were worn almost completely away,
+the subterranean hiding-place was finished, Winter placing in it a
+large box which he had made for the purpose.  Inside the box was a bed
+and bedding, and fresh air was admitted through holes pierced in the
+lid and sides.  In this box Sir Patrick was to hide whenever the
+soldiers searched the house.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But before telling her father that he could with safety return home
+Grizel examined the underground room daily, to see that it was not
+flooded.  Feeling confident at last that the water would not percolate,
+she told Sir Patrick of the hiding-place prepared for him, and during
+the night he crept back to the castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When he had been there a week without anyone but Grizel, her mother,
+and Winter knowing of his presence, the water burst through into the
+subterranean room and flooded the box.  Grizel was for a few minutes
+terror-stricken, for if the soldiers paid another visit to the castle,
+there would be nowhere for her father to hide, and he would be
+captured.  She hurried to him to advise him to return that night to the
+vault; but being an active man he disliked the prospect of prolonged
+idleness, and decided to make an attempt to escape to Holland, where
+many of his political friends had already found safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel now set to work to alter her father's clothes, so that he might
+appear to be a man of humble station.  Throughout the day and all
+through the night she plied her needle, but her task was not finished
+when the news reached the castle that Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode had
+been executed at Edinburgh.  Knowing that her father would meet a
+similar fate if captured, she finished his disguise quickly, and urged
+his instant flight.  He acted on her advice, and had not been gone many
+hours before the soldiers arrived and searched the castle thoroughly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After some narrow escapes from being recognised and arrested Sir
+Patrick arrived at London, and crossed to France, making his way thence
+to Holland.  But before he had been there long he was declared a rebel,
+and his estates confiscated.  Lady Hume and her children were turned
+out of the castle, and found themselves almost penniless.  Grizel and
+her mother, financially assisted by some friends, journeyed to London,
+to petition the Government for an allowance out of the confiscated
+estates, and after much difficulty succeeded in obtaining a paltry
+pittance of £150 a year.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir Patrick's hatred of the Stuarts was naturally increased by the
+treatment his wife and children had received at their hands, and he
+threw himself heart and soul into the conspiracy for invading England
+and Scotland.  He took part, under the Duke of Argyle, in the invasion
+of Scotland, and on the failure of the enterprise remained in hiding
+until he found an opportunity to escape to Ireland, and thence to
+Holland <I>viâ</I> France.  Here Lady Hume, Grizel, and all the children but
+one soon joined him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir Patrick had very little money at this time, and Grizel was soon
+sent back to Scotland to attend to some business on his behalf, and
+collect money owing to him.  She was also to bring back with her a
+sister who had been left with friends in Scotland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel having performed the business entrusted to her, sailed for
+Holland with her sister, but before they had been at sea many hours a
+terrible storm arose, which, of course, considerably prolonged the
+voyage.  This would not have been a great hardship, had the captain
+been an ordinary man.  He happened to be a cowardly bully, and being
+short of food for himself, he forcibly took from Grizel and her sister
+the biscuits which they had brought aboard for their own use.  These he
+ate in their presence.  But this was not the worst.  Grizel had paid
+for a cabin bed for herself and sister, but the captain appropriated
+it, and they were compelled to sleep on the floor.  However, they
+arrived in safety at their destination, and Sir Patrick was exceedingly
+pleased with the way in which Grizel had transacted his business.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three years and a half which followed were comparatively uneventful
+for the British exiles in Holland.  Grizel devoted herself almost
+entirely to domestic duties, for her father was too poor to keep
+servants, and the only assistance she had was from a little girl who
+was paid to come in daily to wash the plates and dishes.  Every morning
+she rose at six o'clock, and was busy until she retired to bed at
+night.  She washed and dressed the children, assisted her father in
+teaching them, mended their clothes, and performed other duties which
+it would be tedious to enumerate.  The few hours during which she
+managed to be free from domestic duties she devoted to practising music
+and studying French and German.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel was now a beautiful young woman, and her gentle manner and
+sweetness made her a favourite of all with whom she came into contact.
+Two Scotch exiles fell in love with her, but she declined their offers
+of marriage, greatly to the surprise of her father, who did not know
+that she was the promised wife of another man&mdash;George Baillie, son of
+his old friend Robert Baillie.  George and Grizel had known each other
+for many years.  George was visiting his father in prison at Edinburgh
+when Grizel, to the surprise of both of them, slipped out from a dark
+corner and delivered her father's letter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bravery of the little girl made a lasting impression on the boy,
+and during the troublous years that followed he managed to see her on
+several occasions.  Each liked the other, and their liking changed to
+love long before they were out of their teens.  George's estates had
+been confiscated, and he was serving as a private in the Prince of
+Orange's Guards, where he had for his chum one of Grizel's brothers.
+When off duty he was frequently at the Humes' house, and there, one
+day, Grizel promised to become his wife.  They kept their engagement a
+secret, for Grizel did not wish it to be known until the good days,
+which she was convinced were in store for Great Britain, arrived.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The good days came at last.  The Prince of Orange's troops landed at
+Torbay, and the last of the Stuart kings fled from the land he had
+misruled.  Honours were now conferred upon the men who had suffered at
+the hands of Charles II. and James II.  Sir Patrick Hume had his
+estates restored to him, and was created Lord Polwarth.  Six years
+later he was made Earl of Marchmont and Lord Chancellor of Scotland.
+The queen greatly admired Grizel, and asked her to become one of her
+maids of honour, but she declined the offer, as George Baillie, whose
+estate had been restored to him, wanted her to fulfil her promise.  She
+was quite willing to do so, and they were married on September 17, 1692.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In 1703 Lady Hume died.  On her death-bed she looked at those standing
+around her and asked anxiously 'Where is Grizel?'  Grizel, who had been
+standing back so that her beloved mother should not see her tears, came
+forward at once.  'My dear Grizel,' Lady Hume said, holding her by the
+hand, 'blessed be you above all, for a helpful child you have been to
+me.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grizel's married life was exceedingly happy, and lasted for forty-six
+years.  She often declared that during those years she and her husband
+never had the slightest quarrel or misunderstanding.  Throughout her
+married life she was indefatigable in good works for the poor, and she
+continued her kindly deeds after her husband's death.  The rebellion of
+1745 caused much distress in her native land, and her money was given
+freely to the ruined of both parties.  Her own income had been greatly
+reduced, as her impoverished tenants were unable to pay her, and soon
+she found herself pressed for money.  All that she had possessed had
+been given to those in distress, and now, in her eighty-first year, she
+was unable to pay for the common necessaries of life.  She called
+together the tradesmen, whom she had hitherto paid promptly, and told
+them that she was now poor, and would have to remain so until her
+tenants were prosperous enough to pay their rents.  Perhaps they would
+not be in a position to do so during her lifetime, and she left it to
+them, the tradesmen, to decide whether or not they would continue to
+serve her, and run the risk of not being paid.  Unanimously and
+promptly the tradesmen declared that, as heretofore, she should have
+the best of their stock.  Joanna Baillie gives their reply in the
+following lines:&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+No, noble dame! this must not be.<BR>
+With heart as warm and hand as free<BR>
+Still thee and thine we'll serve with pride,<BR>
+As when fair fortune graced your side.<BR>
+The best of all our stores afford<BR>
+Shall daily smoke upon thy board;<BR>
+And should'st thou never clear the score,<BR>
+Heaven, for thy sake, will bless our store.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+The tradesmen were paid eventually, but not by Lady Grizel Baillie, for
+she died on December 6, 1746, before prosperity came to her tenants.  A
+long life had been given her, and she had spent it nobly exhibiting all
+the good qualities which a woman should possess.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0405"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+One morning in the spring of 1638 a large number of people had
+assembled at a Richmond Church to witness the marriage of John
+Hutchinson, eldest son of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, with Lucy Apsley, the
+daughter of Sir Allen Apsley.  The bride, who was only eighteen years
+of age, was, according to her contemporaries, exceedingly beautiful and
+very accomplished; her future husband was learned, well-bred and
+handsome.  Both had a host of friends, and thus it was that a large
+crowd had gathered at the church to witness their marriage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The time for the bride to arrive at the church had come; but she was
+not there.  Minutes passed, and soon a messenger arrived with the news
+that the marriage would not take place that day.  'But why was it
+postponed?'  This was the question which the disappointed friends
+asked, and the answer was soon forthcoming.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucy Apsley had been seized with small-pox on her wedding morning.  In
+those days small-pox was far more feared than it is at the present
+time, and the crowd quickly dispersed, some of the people fearing that
+the messenger who brought the bad news might also have brought the
+dreaded disease.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For some time it was thought that Lucy Apsley would die from the
+complaint, but she recovered.  There were many people, however, who
+declared that it would have been better if she had died, for the once
+beautiful girl was now much disfigured, and the Society gossips
+expressed their confidence that John Hutchinson would never marry her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was unjustifiable for these people to talk of John Hutchinson as if
+he were a scoundrel, for he was a manly, honourable, young fellow, and
+quite unlikely to refuse to marry Lucy Apsley because she had lost her
+beauty.  He told her that he was thankful to God for having spared her,
+and urged her to marry him as soon as it was possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were married at St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, on July 3, 1638, the
+bride presenting such a shocking appearance that the clergyman who
+performed the ceremony could not look at her a second time.  It is
+highly satisfactory to be able to say that in the course of time Lucy
+Hutchinson regained some of her beauty; but the contemporary writer's
+statement that she became as beautiful as ever she had been must be
+received with a certain amount of doubt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However, it is not for her beauty but for her bravery that Lucy
+Hutchinson deserves to be remembered.  When she had spent a few happy
+years of married life, the troubles which ended in the execution of
+Charles I. began.  It was impossible for any man or woman to refrain
+from siding with one or the other party in this momentous struggle, for
+any person who claimed to be neutral would have been suspected by both
+parties.  Lucy Hutchinson's husband was of a studious disposition, and
+had little taste for the frivolities and dissipation in which the
+majority of men of his position indulged, and it is therefore not
+surprising that, when it became necessary to take part in the struggle,
+he determined to espouse the cause of the Parliamentary party.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This step caused Lucy Hutchinson some sorrow, for her brother and many
+other members of her family were fighting for King Charles.  However,
+she felt that it was her duty to hold the same political opinions as
+her husband, and she became a staunch Parliamentarian.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Cavaliers, hearing that John Hutchinson had proclaimed sympathy
+with the Roundheads, decided to take him prisoner immediately, but
+warning of their intention reached him, and he fled to Leicestershire.
+Lucy joined him at the earliest opportunity, but they had little peace,
+for the Cavaliers were constantly in search of John Hutchinson.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After fleeing from place to place he arrived at Nottingham, soon after
+the battle of Edgehill.  The Cavaliers were on their way to take
+possession of Nottingham, and John Hutchinson and others urged the
+citizens to defend the town.  The militia was organised, and John
+Hutchinson was appointed a lieutenant-colonel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucy Hutchinson was at this time living at their home at Owthorpe, but
+her husband, thinking that she would be safer in Nottingham than alone
+in a neighbourhood which abounded with Royalists, sent a troop of horse
+to remove her by night.  It was an adventurous journey, but was
+accomplished safely.  Finding that the citizens of Nottingham were
+prepared to offer a determined resistance, the Cavaliers did not attack
+the town, but passed on with the intention of returning later to
+capture it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The citizens of Nottingham, pleased with the energy shown by Colonel
+Hutchinson, elected him Governor of Nottingham Castle.  It was a high
+post for a man only twenty-seven years of age, but Colonel Hutchinson
+soon proved that he was well fitted for it  The castle, although
+standing in an excellent position, was in a dilapidated condition and
+required much strengthening before it could be considered strong enough
+to withstand a determined attack.  The required alterations were
+carried out under Colonel Hutchinson's supervision, and at length all
+that was needed to withstand a siege was a stock of provisions and a
+larger garrison.  These, however, the governor could not obtain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A period of waiting followed.  Again and again the rumour spread that
+the Cavaliers were approaching to capture the castle, but they did not
+attack it.  Their guns were heard in the distance, but for some reason
+known only to themselves they did not deliver the long-expected
+assault.  Lucy Hutchinson had an unenviable time.  Loving a peaceful,
+domestic life, she was compelled to live in the midst of turmoil.  She
+saw to the feeding of the soldiers, a trying task considering that so
+far the Parliamentary party had allowed her husband nothing whatever
+towards defraying the cost of maintaining the garrison, and that the
+stock of provisions was running low.  Moreover she was often troubled
+concerning the safety of her relatives.  Her eldest brother, Sir Allen
+Apsley, of whom she was exceedingly fond, was fighting gallantly for
+the king, and believing that the Parliamentarians would triumph, she
+feared that if he escaped death on the battle-field, it would only be
+to suffer imprisonment and the confiscation of his estate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last, in 1644, the Earl of Newcastle sent a messenger to Colonel
+Hutchinson calling upon him to surrender Nottingham Castle to the
+Royalists, a demand that was promptly refused.  'If his lordship would
+have that poor castle,' the colonel said to the messenger, 'he must
+wade to it in blood.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The messenger departed, and Colonel Hutchinson made preparations to
+withstand a siege.  Greatly to his surprise, however, the attempt on
+the castle was not made, the Earl of Newcastle having been compelled to
+march his forces to the assistance of Royalists in another part of the
+country.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before long, however, the citizens of Nottingham veered round to the
+Royalist party, and decided to betray the town.  One night they
+secretly admitted 600 Cavaliers, commanded by Colonel Hutchinson's
+cousin, Sir Richard Byron, and before daybreak the town was in their
+hands.  But not the castle.  With only eighty men, Colonel Hutchinson
+determined to hold it against the enemy until not a man remained alive.
+His force should have been much larger, but many of his men had on the
+previous evening quitted the castle without permission and entered the
+town.  While enjoying themselves the Cavaliers arrived and made them
+prisoners.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Among the Parliamentarians who were taken prisoners in Nottingham were
+the surgeons, and the defenders of the castle entered into the fight
+with the unpleasant belief that if they were wounded there would be no
+one to attend to their wounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were mistaken.  When the battle had been raging for some minutes,
+and the wounded defenders were being removed from further danger, Lucy
+Hutchinson came forward, and skilfully and tenderly dressed their
+wounds.  For five days, attending to the wounded was her chief duty,
+and many a poor fellow's life was saved by her promptitude and skill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day, while resting from her labours, she saw three Royalists being
+led away to the dungeon.  They were wounded, and had been captured in
+the latest assault on the castle.  Seeing that they were wounded, Lucy
+Hutchinson at once dressed their injuries, and while thus employed one
+of her husband's officers angrily upbraided her for having pity on
+them, concluding with the assertion that 'his soul abhorred to see this
+favour to the enemies of God.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'I've done nothing but my duty,' she replied.  'These are our enemies,
+but they are also our fellow-creatures.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For five days the little band of Roundheads held out against the strong
+force of Cavaliers, and they were fully prepared for a long siege,
+when, to their surprise, they saw the enemy beat a hurried retreat.  In
+a short time they knew the cause.  A strong Parliamentary force was
+advancing to the relief of Nottingham Castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For his good defence of the castle, Parliament ratified the appointment
+made by the citizens, and promoted Colonel Hutchinson to be governor of
+the town as well as of the castle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unable to obtain the castle by force of arms, the Royalists now tempted
+Colonel Hutchinson, by offering him any terms he might name, if he
+would surrender it and join their party.  These attempts to suborn him
+he ignored, and held the castle for the Parliamentary party until peace
+was declared, and he was able to return with his wife and children to
+his ruined home at Owthorpe.  In the meanwhile, Lucy Hutchinson was
+anxious concerning her brother, Sir Allen Apsley, who had held
+Barnstaple for the king as gallantly as her husband had held Nottingham
+Castle for the Parliament.  He was a marked man, but Colonel Hutchinson
+used his now great influence to obtain immunity from molestation for
+the gallant Cavalier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Until the death of Cromwell, Lucy Hutchinson and her husband lived very
+happily with their children at their rebuilt Owthorpe home.  But
+immediately after that event troubles began.  The Royalists, hoping to
+bring about a restoration of monarchy, were eager to obtain arms, and
+planned a raid on Owthorpe; but their designs were repeated to Lucy
+Hutchinson by a boy who overheard the conspiracy, and when the robbers
+arrived they were speedily put to flight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the prospects of a Restoration became greater, Lucy Hutchinson grew
+alarmed for the safety of her husband, who was one of the men who had
+signed the death-warrant of Charles I.  The friends of the exiled king
+had promised him pardon and preferment if he would become a Royalist,
+but this he had firmly declined to do.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On May 29, 1660, Charles II. was restored to the throne, and little
+mercy could be expected from him by those who had signed his father's
+death-warrant.  Some of Colonel Hutchinson's friends urged him to
+follow Ingoldsby's example, and declare that Cromwell had held his hand
+and compelled him to sign it, but he rejected this advice with the
+greatest indignation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a terrible state of anxiety Lucy Hutchinson applied to her brother
+for assistance and advice.  Sir Allen Apsley was naturally in high
+favour at court, where his gallant fight for Charles I. was well known,
+and he was glad of an opportunity to help the brother-in-law who had
+protected him in time of danger.  Moreover, there was another reason
+why he was anxious to help Colonel Hutchinson&mdash;he, Sir Allen, had
+recently married his sister.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir Allen Apsley worked exceedingly hard to obtain his brother-in-law's
+pardon, and at last he had the joy of telling his sister that her
+husband's name was inserted in the Act of Oblivion, and his estates
+unconditionally freed to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Great was Lucy Hutchinson's joy at the pardon of her husband, and she
+looked forward to spending the remainder of their days in peace at
+their beloved Owthorpe.  Alas! this was not to be.  There were many
+Royalists who were highly displeased at Colonel Hutchinson's receiving
+a pardon, and they determined to ruin him.  Very conveniently they
+discovered, or said that they had discovered, a Puritan plot for a
+rising, and that Colonel Hutchinson was one of the conspirators.  As
+far as Colonel Hutchinson was concerned the story was utterly untrue,
+but, nevertheless, on the strength of it, he was arrested for treason,
+carried to London and placed in the Tower.  After ten months in the
+Tower, during which his wife visited him regularly, he was removed to
+Sandown Castle, where, in a damp cell against the walls of which the
+sea washed, he contracted ague.  Lucy Hutchinson implored the governor
+to be permitted to share her husband's prison, but he refused, and
+treated both her and him with brutality.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir Allen Apsley, hearing of the treatment accorded to his
+brother-in-law, used his influence to bring about a change in his
+condition, but the alteration came too late, and he died on September
+11, 1664.  Lucy Hutchinson was not present when he died, but the
+message he sent to her was:&mdash;'Let her, as she is above other women,
+show herself on this occasion a good Christian, and above the pitch of
+ordinary minds.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Little is known of Lucy Hutchinson after her husband's death, beyond
+that she soon sold Owthorpe, and that some years later she referred to
+herself as being in adversity.  By adversity she probably referred to
+her widowed state, for it is very unlikely that with many rich
+relatives a woman of simple tastes would be in want of money.  But of
+this we may be sure: that, whether old age found her rich or poor, it
+found her a noble-minded, Christian Englishwoman.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0406"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+When Samuel White Baker decided to make an attempt to discover the
+sources of the Nile, his young wife determined to accompany him and
+share his dangers and hardships.  On April 15, 1861, they started from
+Cairo, and after a twenty-six days' journey by boat they disembarked at
+Korosko, and plunged into the dreary desert.  Their camels travelled at
+a rapid pace, but the heat was terrible, and Mrs. Baker was taken
+seriously ill before arriving at Berber.  She was, however,
+sufficiently recovered to accompany her husband when he started off
+along the dry bed of the Atbara, and soon had a novel experience, which
+Baker in <I>The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia</I>, describes as follows:&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'At half-past eight I was lying half asleep upon my bed by the margin
+of the river, when I fancied that I heard a rumbling like distant
+thunder.  Hardly had I raised my head to listen more attentively, when
+a confusion of voices arose from the Arabs' camp, with the sound of
+many feet; and in a few minutes they rushed into my camp, shouting to
+my men in the darkness, "El Bahr!  El Bahr!"'[<A NAME="chap0406fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap0406fn1">1</A>]  The rolling flood was
+sweeping down the dry bed of the river.  'We were up in an instant.
+Many of the people were asleep on the clean sand in the river's bed;
+these were quickly awakened by the Arabs....  Hardly had they (the
+Arabs) descended, when the sound of the river in the darkness beneath
+told us that the water had arrived; and the men, dripping with wet, had
+just sufficient time to drag their heavy burdens up the bank.  All was
+darkness and confusion.  The river had arrived like "a thief in the
+night."'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When daylight came a mighty river was flowing where yesterday there was
+only dry land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Proceeding to Kassala, Baker engaged additional camels and attendants,
+and then crossing the Atbara at Korasi proceeded to Sofi, where he
+decided to halt for five months.  Big game abounded, and Baker enjoyed
+excellent sport.  Shooting and studying Arabic occupied nearly all his
+attention, until Mrs. Baker was taken ill with gastric fever.  For a
+time it was not expected that she would recover; but, fortunately, she
+was spared to assist her husband in the arduous labours which followed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. and Mrs. Baker arrived at Khartoum on June 11, 1862, and remained
+there for six months, waiting for the rains to cease, and for the
+northerly winds to set in.  Quitting Khartoum on December 18, 1862,
+they arrived at Gondokoro on February 2, 1863.  Baker was the first
+Englishman to visit the place, and the reception which the
+slave-traders accorded him was far from cordial.  Believing him to be a
+spy of the British Government, they concealed their slaves, and waited
+anxiously for him to depart.  In the meanwhile they made friends with
+his men, sowed discontent amongst them, and succeeded in inciting them
+to make a raid for food on the natives in the next village.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Baker, hearing of the proposed raid, promptly forbade it, whereupon his
+men mutinied.  Seizing the ringleader, Baker proceeded to give him a
+sound thrashing, but was at once attacked by the rest of the men, and
+would certainly have been killed had not Mrs. Baker rushed to the
+rescue.  Her sudden appearance on the scene&mdash;for it was known she was
+ill with fever&mdash;and her appeals to some of the men to help her save her
+husband caused the mutineers to hesitate.  Instantly Baker saw his
+opportunity.  'Fall in!' he commanded, and so accustomed were the men
+to obeying his orders that the majority fell in instantly.  The
+ringleader and a few others refused to obey, and Baker was about to
+administer another thrashing to the former when his wife besought him
+not to do so.  He acted on her advice, and promised to overlook the
+mutineers' conduct if they apologised, which they promptly and
+profusely did.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The slave-traders now declared that they would not permit the Bakers to
+penetrate into the interior, but, ignoring the threats, husband and
+wife resumed their journey.  Soon they came into contact with a
+well-armed party of these traders, and a fight would have resulted had
+not Mrs. Baker suggested that they should make friends with the leader.
+'Had I been alone,' Baker writes, 'I should have been too proud to have
+sought the friendship of the sullen trader; and the moment on which
+success depended would have been lost....  The fate of the expedition
+was retrieved by Mrs. Baker.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was, of course, a trying task for Mr. and Mrs. Baker to be on
+friendly terms with a slave-trader, and they both felt it to be so, but
+it was productive of good.  The slave-trader informed Baker that his
+(Baker's) men intended to mutiny and kill him and his wife.  Baker was
+on his guard, and nipped the mutiny in the bud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After many hardships and perils borne uncomplainingly by Mrs. Baker,
+they reached the territory of the King of Unyoro, where his majesty's
+brother, M'gambi, was continually asking for presents.  Having received
+a great number from Baker, M'gambi went on to demand that Mrs. Baker
+might be given to him.  'Drawing my revolver quietly, I held it within
+two feet of his chest,' Baker writes, 'and looking at him with
+undisguised contempt, I told him that if I touched the trigger, not all
+the men could save him: and that it he dared to repeat the insult I
+would shoot him on the spot.  At the same time, I explained to him that
+in my country such insolence would entail bloodshed; and I looked upon
+him as an ignorant ox who knew no better; and that this excuse alone
+could save him.  My wife, naturally indignant, had risen from her seat,
+and maddened with the excitement of the moment, she made a little
+speech in Arabic (not a word of which he understood) with a countenance
+almost as amiable as the head of Medusa.  Altogether the
+<I>mise-en-scène</I> utterly astonished him.  The woman, Bacheta, although
+savage, had appropriated the insult to her mistress, and she also
+fearlessly let fly at him, translating as nearly as she could the
+complimentary address that "Medusa" had just delivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whether this little <I>coup de théâtre</I> had so impressed M'gambi with
+British female independence, that he wished to be "off his bargain," I
+cannot say; but, with an air of complete astonishment, he said; "Don't
+be angry!  I had no intention of offending you by asking for your wife;
+I will give you a wife if you want one; and I thought you had no
+objection to give me yours: it is my custom to give my visitors pretty
+wives, and I thought you might exchange.  Don't make a fuss about it;
+if you don't like it, there's an end of it: I will never mention it
+again."  This very practical apology I received very sternly.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After this interview with M'gambi, the Bakers resumed their journey,
+escorted by 300 local men, whose services Baker soon discovered it
+would be advisable to dispense with.  He was now left with only twelve
+men, and it was doubtful whether he would be able to reach his
+destination and get back to Gondokoro in time to catch the last boat to
+Khartoum that season.  If he failed to do so, it meant another year in
+Central Africa, and he did not wish his wife to endure that.  But Mrs.
+Baker was interested deeply in her husband's work, and urged him not to
+consider her health before accomplishing his task.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few days later she received a sun-stroke, and for several days lay in
+a litter in an unconscious state.  Brain fever followed, and no one
+believed that she could possibly recover.  A halt was made, and the men
+put a new handle to the pick-axe ready to dig a grave, the site of
+which had been selected.  But the preparations were premature.  Mrs.
+Baker recovered consciousness, and two days later the weary march was
+resumed, to be crowned on March 14, 1864, with success, for on that day
+they saw before them the tremendous sheet of water now well known by
+the name the discoverer gave it, there and then,&mdash;the Albert Nyanza.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We can imagine Mrs. Baker's joy on finding that their expedition had
+been crowned with success, and that the perils and hardships which she
+had shared uncomplainingly with her husband had not been endured in
+vain.  It would perhaps have only been natural if she had now urged her
+husband to return to civilisation as quickly as possible, but she did
+not do so.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For thirteen days they explored in canoes the eastern shore of the
+newly-discovered lake, coming at last to the mouth of Somerset or
+Victoria Nile.  Ascending the river they discovered a series of
+cataracts, ending in a magnificent fall.  These Baker named Murchison
+Falls, as a compliment to the President of the Royal Geographical
+Society.  Continuing the journey on foot, they came to a deserted
+village, where they were compelled to remain for two months through the
+treachery of the King of Unyoro.  This dusky potentate had promised
+Baker every assistance that he could give, but having decided to make
+an attack on two neighbouring tribes he asked the Englishman to
+accompany his force and fight for him.  This Baker refused to do, and,
+in revenge, the king sent secret orders to Baker's followers to desert
+him, and leave him and his wife to starve.  In a desolate spot, unable
+to obtain provisions, Mr. and Mrs. Baker existed for two months,
+growing weaker daily from fever and want of proper food.  However,
+after many attempts, Baker managed to obtain an interview with the
+king, and persuaded him to treat them humanely.  The king would not,
+however, allow them to quit his territory, and it was not until
+November, 1864, that they succeeded in escaping.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After many adventures they arrived at Khartoum on May 3, 1865, where
+their arrival created great surprise among the Europeans, who had long
+since been convinced that they were dead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On reaching England in October, 1865, the Bakers were given an
+enthusiastic reception.  Various learned societies at home and abroad
+bestowed their highest honours upon Baker, and Queen Victoria conferred
+a knighthood upon him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mrs. Baker's bravery in accompanying her husband through so many
+dangers was naturally praised by all classes, and it was felt by many
+people that some honour should be conferred upon her.  In Messrs.
+Murray and White's <I>Sir Samuel Baker: a Memoir</I> (Macmillan), it is
+stated that Mr. W. E. Gladstone proposed that a subscription should be
+started for presenting a suitable testimonial to her.  This was,
+however, prior to her becoming Lady Baker, and perhaps it was
+considered that having received an honour the testimonial was
+unnecessary.  At any rate Mr. Gladstone's suggestion was not carried
+out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the spring of 1869, Sir Samuel and Lady Baker returned to Africa.
+The Khedive had appointed Sir Samuel Governor-General of the Equatorial
+Nile Basin, to suppress the slave-trade, to develop the natural
+resources of the country, and open the great lakes to navigation.  This
+was a formidable task, and made more difficult by the jealousy of the
+Egyptian authorities, who neglected to give him the support which they
+should have done.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For two years Sir Samuel Baker was busy fighting slave-traders and
+native tribes, and throughout this exciting period he was accompanied
+by his wife, who was subjected to the same dangers as he or any man in
+his force.  At one time she was in great danger of being laid low at
+any moment by bullet or spear.  This was during the retreat from
+Masendi, a position which Sir Samuel Baker was compelled to abandon on
+June 14, 1872.  For eighty miles the little band, composed of about 100
+men, marched in double file through tangled forest and gigantic grass,
+fighting the whole distance.  Bullets whizzed past Lady Baker, and many
+a spear went within an inch of her, but unalarmed she marched on
+<I>carrying ammunition</I>.  The enemy hoped to annihilate the party before
+it got clear of the long grass, but the determined men who were
+fighting for their lives discovered the ambuscades and drove out the
+enemy.  Night and day the hidden foe harassed the party, and Lady Baker
+knew that any moment might be her last.  Nevertheless, she trudged on
+with her burden of ammunition, and on some occasions marched sixteen
+miles at a stretch.  It was a weary march through that
+grass-jungle&mdash;which harboured hundreds of the enemy&mdash;and it seemed that
+it would never end.  To accelerate their retreat, the cattle were
+abandoned and loads of valuable goods were burnt or thrown away.  At
+times it seemed as if they could not possibly escape, and, in fact,
+news reached England that they had been slaughtered during the retreat
+from Masendi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However, they got through safely, and shortly afterwards inflicted a
+crushing defeat on the enemy.  Lady Baker was present at this battle,
+but although the bullets whizzed to the right, to the left, and above
+her, she escaped injury.  Sir Samuel not only praised her bravery, but
+he wrote of her: 'She has always been my prime minister, to give good
+counsel in moments of difficulty and danger.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On completion of the four years' service for which the Khedive had
+engaged him, Sir Samuel Baker returned with his wife to England, where
+once more they received an enthusiastic reception.  When they again
+travelled abroad it was in more civilised parts of the world, and
+unattended by the perils which had assailed them in Africa.  Sir Samuel
+Baker died on December 30, 1893, at Sandford Orleigh, near Newton
+Abbot, aged 72.  He was a brave and clever man, but not a little of his
+success was due to the fact that he had a wife who shared his ambition,
+and did all that lay in her power to bring his undertakings to a
+successful issue.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap0406fn1"></A>
+<P CLASS="footnote">
+[<A HREF="#chap0406fn1text">1</A>] The river.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="finis">
+THE END.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<HR>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Young Girl's Library.
+</H3>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+TWO GIRLS IN A SIEGE.  A Tale of the Great Civil War.  By EDITH C.
+KENYON, Author of "Queen of Nine Days," etc.  With Three Illustrations
+by J. MACFARLANE.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE SHEPHERD'S FAIRY.  By the Author of "Mr. Mygale's Hobby."  With
+Three Illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+MISS NETTIE'S GIRLS.  A Story of London East End Life.  By CONSTANCE
+EVELYN.  With Three Illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+GWEN'S INFLUENCE.  By FRANCES TOFT, Author of "Uncle Ronald," etc.
+With Three Illustrations by CHARLES HORRELL.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+CHRISTIE REDFERN'S TROUBLES.  By MRS. ROBERTSON.  With Three
+Illustrations by E. BARNARD LINTOTT, Author of "The Orphans of Glen
+Elder."
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ANGEL'S BROTHER.  By ELEANOR A. STOOKE, Author of "The Bottom of the
+Bread Pan."  With Three Illustrations by W. H. C. GROOME.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.  LONDON.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3>
+Popular Stories
+<BR>
+By
+<BR>
+Well-Known
+<BR>
+Writers
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H4>
+HESBA STRETTON<BR>
+Mrs. O. F. WALTON<BR>
+EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN<BR>
+AMY LE FEUVRE<BR>
+ETC.  ETC.<BR>
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H4>
+Issued by<BR>
+The Religious Tract Society<BR>
+4 Bouverie Street and<BR>
+65 St. Paul's Churchyard<BR>
+London, E.C.<BR>
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+<BR>
+HESBA STRETTON.
+</H3>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+HALF BROTHERS.  By Hesba Stretton.  With Four Illustrations by Lancelot
+Speed.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+CAROLA.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+COBWEBS AND CABLES.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THROUGH A NEEDLE'S EYE.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+DAVID LLOYD'S LAST WILL.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE SOUL OF HONOUR.  By Hesba Stretton.  With Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+UNIFORM EDITIONS OF STORIES
+<BR>
+BY
+<BR>
+EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN.
+</H3>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+<I>Miss Everett-Green has long been known and appreciated as a practised
+and skilled writer, and while many of her tales are specially suited
+for girls, they will also be read with profit and interest by adults.
+The Society is issuing the whole series of her longer stories in a
+uniform style.</I>
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE CONSCIENCE OF ROGER TREHERN.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+JOINT GUARDIANS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+MARCUS STRATFORD'S CHARGE; or, Roy's Temptation.  By Evelyn
+Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ALWYN RAVENDALE.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by Harold
+Copping.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+LENORE ANNANDALE'S STORY.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a
+Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE MISTRESS OF LYDGATE PRIORY; or, The Story of a Long Life.  By
+Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE PERCIVALS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+<BR>
+MRS. O. F. WALTON.
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+AUTHOR OF 'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES.'
+</H4>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE LOST CLUE.  By Mrs. Walton.  With Illustrations by Adolf Thiede.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+WAS I RIGHT?  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+DOCTOR FORESTER.  By Mrs. Walton.  With Four Illustrations by Ernest
+Prater.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+SCENES IN THE LIFE OF AN OLD ARM-CHAIR.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+OLIVE'S STORY; or, Life at Ravenscliffe.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+<BR>
+AMY LE FEUVRE.
+</H3>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE MENDER; A Story of Modern Domestic Life.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ODD MADE EVEN.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  Seven Illustrations by Harold
+Copping.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+HEATHER'S MISTRESS.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  With Fifteen Illustrations by
+J. S. Crompton.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ON THE EDGE OF THE MOOR.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE CARVED CUPBOARD.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+DWELL DEEP; or Hilda Thorn's Life Story.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ODD.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A LITTLE MAID.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A PUZZLING PAIR.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  With Illustrations by Eveline
+Lance.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+LONDON; THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Bouverie Florin Library.
+</H3>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A New Series of Interesting Stories.  Each with Title-page and
+Illustrations in Colour.  Attractively bound.  Large crown 8vo, Cloth
+Gilt, 2s. each.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE AWAKENING OF ANTHONY WEIR.  By SILAS K. HOCKING.  With coloured and
+other illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+IN THE DAYS OF THE GIRONDE.  A Story for Girls.  By THEKLA.  With
+coloured illustrations by W. E. WIGFULL.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+MONEY AND THE MAN.  By H. M. WARD.  With coloured illustrations by A.
+TWIDLE.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE CHARIOTS OF THE LORD: A Romance of the Time of James II. and the
+coming of William of Orange.  With four coloured illustrations by ADOLF
+THIEDE.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A ROSE OF YORK.  By FLORENCE BONE.  With coloured illustrations by
+DUDLEY TENNANT.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE WONDER CHILD: An Australian Story.  By ETHEL TURNER.  With coloured
+and other illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+FROM PRISON TO PARADISE: A Story of English Peasant Life in 1557.  By
+ALICE LANG.  With coloured and other illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A HERO IN THE STRIFE.  By LOUISA C. SILKE.  With coloured frontispiece
+by J. FINNEMORE.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ADNAH: A Tale of the Time of Christ.  By J. BRECKENRIDGE ELLIS.  With
+coloured title-page and frontispiece.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+LIVING IT OUT.  By H. M. WARD, Author of 'Money and the Man,' etc.
+With three coloured illustrations by W. E. WIGFULL.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE TROUBLE MAN: or, The Wards of St. James.  By EMILY P. WEAVER.  With
+three coloured illustrations by DUDLEY TENNANT.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAIN.  A Stirring Tale of the Franco-German War of
+1870-1871.  By S. R. CROCKETT, Author of 'The White Plumes of Navarre,'
+'The Lilac Sunbonnet,' &amp;c.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE LOST CLUE.  By Mrs. O. F. WALTON, Author of 'A Peep Behind the
+Scenes,' &amp;c.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+LOVE, THE INTRUDER.  A Modern Romance.  By HELEN H. WATSON, Author of
+'Andrew Goodfellow,' &amp;c.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE FIGHTING LINE.  By DAVID LYALL.  Author of 'The Gold that
+Perisheth,' &amp;c.  Illustrated.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE HIGHWAY OF SORROW: A Story of Modern Russia.  By Hesba Stretton.
+With 4 Illustrations by J. Finnemore, R.I.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+VEILED HEARTS: A Romance of Modern Egypt.  By Rachel Willard.  With 3
+Illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+SUNDAY SCHOOL ROMANCES.  By Alfred B. Cooper, with 8 Illustrations.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE COSSART COUSINS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With 4 Illustrations by
+Gordon Browne, R.I.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by
+Lancelot Speed.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+GREYFRIARS.  By E. Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by Ernest Prater.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+PEGGY SPRY.  By H. M. Ward.  With 3 illustrations by Ernest Prater.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The 'Queen' Library.
+</H3>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+A New Series of Delightful Stories for younger Girls, Each with three
+Coloured Illustrations: Large crown 8vo.  Attractively bound in Cloth
+Gilt, 2s. 6d.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+MARGARET, or, The Hidden Treasure.  By N.F.P.K.  With three coloured
+illustrations by VICTOR PROUT.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+AGAINST THE WORLD.  By EVELYN R. GARRATT, Author of 'Free to Serve.'
+With three coloured illustrations by J. A. SYMINGTON.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+LITTLE MISS.  By M. B. MANWELL, Author of 'The Captain's Bunk,'
+'Daisy's Knight,' etc.  With three coloured illustrations by F. E.
+HILEY.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+BELLE AND DOLLY.  By ANNE BEALE.  With three coloured illustrations by
+A. TWIDLE.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+'BRAVE DEEDS' SERIES.<BR>
+</H3>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+<I>Well Illustrated.</I><BR>
+</H4>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+BRAVE DEEDS OF YOUTHFUL HEROES.<BR>
+STRANGE TALES OF PERIL AND ADVENTURE.<BR>
+ADVENTURES ASHORE AND AFLOAT.<BR>
+THE ROMANCE OF REAL LIFE.<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">True Incidents in the Lives of the Great and Good.</SPAN><BR>
+WIND AND WAVE.  A Tale of the Siege of Leyden.<BR>
+THE CRUISE OF THE 'MARY ROSE.'<BR>
+CEDAR CREEK; Or, from Shanty to Settlement.<BR>
+A BOOK OF HEROES;<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Or, Great Victories in the Fight for Freedom.</SPAN><BR>
+ONCE UPON A TIME;<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Or, The Boy's Book of Adventures.</SPAN><BR>
+THE BLACK TROOPERS.  And Other Stories.<BR>
+A RACE FOR LIFE.  And Other Tales.<BR>
+NOBLE DEEDS OF THE WORLD'S HEROINES.<BR>
+THROUGH FLOOD AND FLAME.<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Adventures and Perils of Protestant Heroes.</SPAN><BR>
+HEROES OF THE GOODWIN SANDS.<BR>
+ON THE INDIAN TRAIL,<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">And Other Stories of the Cree and Salteaux Indians.</SPAN><BR>
+REMARKABLE ADVENTURES FROM REAL LIFE.<BR>
+THROUGH FIRE AND THROUGH WATER.<BR>
+FRANK LAYTON.  An Australian Story.<BR>
+THE REALM OF THE ICE-KING.<BR>
+THE FOSTER BROTHERS OF DOOM.<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">A Tale of the Irish Rebellion.</SPAN><BR>
+THE CAPTAIN'S STORY.<BR>
+STEADFAST AND TRUE.<BR>
+ADVENTURE STORIES.<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Daring Deeds on Land and Sea.</SPAN><BR>
+HISTORICAL TALES FOR YOUNG PROTESTANTS,<BR>
+BRAVE SONS OF THE EMPIRE.<BR>
+THE LOG OF A SKY-PILOT;<BR>
+<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Or, Work and Adventure around the Goodwin Sands.</SPAN><BR>
+SAXBY.  A Tale of the Commonwealth Time.<BR>
+WITHIN SEA WALLS.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 4, BOUVERIE STREET, E.C.<BR>
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines, by 
+Henry Charles Moore
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOBLE DEEDS--WORLD'S HEROINES ***
+
+***** This file should be named 29286-h.htm or 29286-h.zip *****
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines, by
+Henry Charles Moore
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines
+
+Author: Henry Charles Moore
+
+Release Date: July 1, 2009 [EBook #29286]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOBLE DEEDS--WORLD'S HEROINES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art]
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: 'YOU SHALL NOT KILL MY MISTRESS UNTIL YOU HAVE KILLED
+ME!']
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Title page]
+
+
+
+
+
+Noble Deeds of the
+
+World's Heroines
+
+
+By
+
+HENRY CHARLES MOORE
+
+
+
+
+_WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS_
+
+
+
+
+LONDON
+
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
+
+4 Bouverie Street & 65 St. Paul's Churchyard
+
+1903
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+In these pages I have tried to show how women, old and young, in many
+ranks of life, have proved themselves in times of trial to possess as
+much courage and daring as men.  Some of these 'Brave Women' died for
+their Master's sake, whilst others, in His cause, passed through dire
+peril and grievous suffering.  All of them counted not their lives dear
+unto them, so long only as they might do their duty.  I have designedly
+omitted many familiar heroines in the hope of winning attention for
+some whose deeds have been less widely recognised.
+
+H. C. M.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+I. BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
+
+  ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE
+  GRACE BUSSELL AND THE WRECK OF THE GEORGETTE
+  CATHERINE VASSEUR, THE HEROINE OF NOYEN
+  MARY ROGERS, AND THE WRECK OF THE STELLA
+  MADELEINE BLANCHET, THE HEROINE OF BUZANCAIS
+  HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL
+
+II. BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN THE MISSION FIELD
+
+  JANE CHALMERS; ALONE AMONGST CANNIBALS
+  ANNA HINDERER, AND THE GOSPEL IN THE YORUBA COUNTRY
+  ANN JUDSON    )
+  SARAH JUDSON  ) PIONEER WOMEN IN BURMA
+  OLIVIA OGREN, AND AN ESCAPE FROM BOXERS
+  EDITH NATHAN   )
+  MAY NATHAN     ) MARTYRED BY BOXERS
+  MARY HEAYSMAN  )
+  MARY RIGGS AND THE SIOUX RISING
+
+III. BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN WAR-TIME
+
+  MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND
+  LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE
+  LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE
+  LADY HARRIET ACLAND, A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR
+  AIMEE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT
+  LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY
+  ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR
+  THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA
+
+IV. BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
+
+  ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE
+  NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED
+  ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED
+  GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER
+  LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE
+  LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
+
+
+ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE
+
+'FIRE!  FIRE!'
+
+It was two o'clock in the morning when this cry was heard in Union
+Street, Borough, London, and the people who ran to the spot saw an oil
+shop in flames, and at a window above it a servant girl, Alice Ayres,
+screaming for help.  Some rushed off to summon the fire-brigade, but
+those who remained feared that before it could arrive the place would
+be gutted.
+
+'Jump!  jump!' they shouted, and stretched out their coats to break her
+fall.  But instead of jumping Alice Ayres disappeared from the window.
+There were other people in the house, and she was determined not to
+seek safety for herself until she had made an attempt to save their
+lives.
+
+Hurrying to the room where her master, mistress, and one child slept,
+she battered at the door, and awakening them warned them of their
+danger.  Then through smoke and flames she sped back to her own room,
+where three children slept in her charge.  She gave one look out of the
+window, but the firemen were not yet on the scene.
+
+'Jump! jump!' the crowd shouted.
+
+But Alice Ayres ignored the entreaties, for she had determined to save
+the children or die in the attempt.  Her first idea was to tie two
+sheets together and lower the children one by one; but, finding that
+the sheets would not bear their weight, she dragged a feather bed to
+the window and dropped it into the street.  Willing hands seized it and
+held it out, expecting her to jump; but she disappeared again,
+returning, however, a moment or two later, with a little white-robed
+child in her arms.  Holding her at arms' length out of the window, she
+glanced down at the bed, and seeing that it was ready, dropped her.  A
+tremendous cheer from the crowd told her that the little one was safe.
+
+Then she snatched up the second little girl, but the poor mite was
+terrified, and throwing her arms around Alice's neck cried piteously,
+'Don't throw me out of window!'  So tightly did the child cling to her
+that Alice had great difficulty in getting her into a proper position
+to drop her on to the bed, but she succeeded at last, and another loud
+cheer from the crowd announced that she had saved two lives.
+
+Scarcely five minutes had elapsed since the fire broke out, but the
+contents of the shop were such that the flames spread at a fearful
+rate, and the onlookers knew that if Alice Ayres did not jump quickly
+she would be burned to death.
+
+'Jump! jump!' they shouted excitedly.
+
+But there was a baby lying in the cot, and back Alice Ayres went,
+brought it safely through fire and smoke to the window, and dropped it
+out.  She had saved three lives!
+
+Weakened by the heat and the smoke, Alice Ayres now decided to leap
+from the window, and the anxious people in the street watched her in
+silence as she climbed to the window sill.  She jumped, but her body
+struck one of the large dummy jars above the front of the shop and
+caused her to fall head foremost on the bed, and then topple over on to
+the pavement with a sickening thud.  Quickly and tenderly she was
+lifted on to a shutter and carried into a neighbouring shop, where
+medical aid was soon at hand.
+
+In the meanwhile the firemen had arrived.  They had come as soon as
+they were called, but they arrived too late to save the other three
+inmates of the house from perishing in the flames.
+
+But the interest of the crowd was centred in the condition of Alice
+Ayres, and as she was being removed to Guy's Hospital there was
+scarcely a man or a woman present whose eyes were not filled with
+tears.  Many followed on to the hospital, in the hope of hearing the
+medical opinion of her condition, and before long it became known that
+she had fractured and dislocated her spine, and that there was no hope
+of her recovery.
+
+Alice Ayres died at Guy's Hospital on Sunday, April 26, 1885, aged 25,
+and at the inquest, when her coffin was covered with beautiful flowers
+sent from all parts of the land, the coroner declared that he should
+not be doing justice to the jury or the public, did he not give
+expression to the general feeling of admiration which her noble conduct
+had aroused.  In the hurry and excitement of a fire there were few who
+had the presence of mind to act as she had done, or who would run the
+risks she had for the sake of saving others.  He deeply regretted that
+so valuable a life, offered so generously, had been sacrificed.
+
+In the Postmen's Park, which adjoins the General Post Office, there is
+a cloister bearing the inscription, 'In Commemoration of Heroic
+Self-Sacrifice.'  Within it are tablets to the memory of heroes of
+humble life, and one of the most interesting of these is that on which
+is inscribed:--'Alice Ayres, daughter of a bricklayer's labourer, who
+by intrepid conduct saved three children from a burning house in Union
+Street, Borough, at the cost of her own young life.  April 24, 1885.'
+
+
+
+
+GRACE BUSSELL AND THE WRECK OF THE GEORGETTE
+
+The steamer Georgette had sprung a leak while on a voyage from
+Fremantle to Adelaide, and the captain knew that there was little hope
+of saving his ship.  But there were forty-eight passengers, including
+women and children, and to save these and the crew was the great desire
+of the captain.  The ship's lifeboat was lowered, but this too was in a
+leaky condition, and the eight persons who put off in it were drowned
+before the eyes of their friends on the Georgette.
+
+Seeing, soon, that there was absolutely no hope of saving his vessel,
+the captain decided to run her ashore, hoping by that means to be able
+to save all aboard her.  The vessel grounded some 180 miles south of
+Fremantle on December 2, 1876; but she was some distance from the
+shore, and it seemed to the captain that no boat could pass through the
+surf which would have to be crossed to reach land.  He swept the coast
+through his glass, but not a house or human being could he see, and he
+gave up all hope of receiving help from the shore.
+
+A boat was launched, but it had scarcely quitted the steamer's side
+when it capsized, and before the crew could right it and bring it back
+to the ship an hour had elapsed.  Once again it was lowered, but it
+capsized again in two and a half fathoms of water, and the women and
+children who escaped drowning clung to the overturned boat, and called
+to those aboard the steamer to save them.  But help did not come from
+that quarter.
+
+Grace Bussell, the sixteen years old daughter of an English settler who
+lived some twelve miles from the point opposite to which the Georgette
+had gone ashore, was riding through the bush, accompanied by a native
+stockman, and coming out towards the edge of the cliff saw the steamer
+in distress, and witnessed the overturning of the small boat.
+Horrified at the position of the poor people on the upturned boat, she
+moved her horse forward and descended the steep cliff.
+
+It was a terribly dangerous act, for had the horse slipped both beast
+and rider would have fallen to certain death.  Behind her, on his own
+horse, rode the stockman, which of course made the danger greater.
+
+But Grace Bussell made nothing of the danger she was undergoing, her
+sole thought being to reach the drowning people as quickly as possible.
+The passengers and crew of the Georgette, watching her with a strange
+fascination, expected every minute to see her fall and be killed.  To
+their astonishment she reached the beach in safety, and rode straight
+into the boiling surf.  The waves broke over her, and it seemed
+impossible that she would ever reach the upturned boat and rescue the
+exhausted people clinging to it.  Once the horse stumbled, but Grace
+was a skilful rider and pulled him up quickly.
+
+As she drew near to the boat, closely followed by the stockman, hope
+revived in the hearts of the shivering women and children clinging to
+it, and when at last she was alongside every mother besought her to
+take her child.  Quickly she placed two little ones before her on the
+saddle, and grasping hold of a third she started for the shore.  The
+stockman, with as many children as he could hold, rode close behind her.
+
+The journey outward had been difficult and dangerous, but now that her
+horse was carrying an extra load it was infinitely more so.  However,
+she proceeded slowly, and although on one or two occasions they were
+nearly swept away they reached the beach in safety.
+
+Having carefully placed her living load on dry land, she rode again
+into the raging sea.  Her progress was slower this time, but she
+returned to shore with children on her saddle and women clinging to her
+skirt on each side.
+
+Drenched to the skin and exhausted by the buffeting of the surf, Grace
+Bussell might have pleaded that she had not the strength to make
+another journey, but again and again, accompanied by the stockman, she
+rode out into the dangerous sea, and not until four hours had passed,
+and the last passenger was brought ashore, did she take a rest.
+
+Hungry, tired, and shivering with cold, she sank to the ground; but she
+soon noticed that many of those whom she had saved were more exhausted
+than she, and that unless food and warm clothing were given them
+quickly they would probably die.
+
+So, rising from the ground, she mounted her dripping horse and galloped
+off towards home.  The twelve miles were covered quickly, but on
+dismounting at her home Grace fainted, and it was some time before her
+anxious parents could discover what had caused her to be in such a
+drenched and exhausted condition.
+
+When at last she told the story of the shipwreck her sister got
+together blankets and food and rode off to the sufferers, whom she
+carefully tended throughout the night.  At daybreak Mr. Bussell arrived
+with his wagon, and conveyed the whole party to his home, where they
+remained tenderly nursed by mother and daughters for several days.
+Mrs. Bussell, it is sad to say, died from brain fever brought on by her
+anxiety concerning the shipwrecked people whom she had taken into her
+house.
+
+Grace Bussell's bravery was not allowed to pass unnoticed.  The Royal
+Humane Society presented her with its medal, and a medal was also
+bestowed upon the stockman who had accompanied his mistress down the
+steep cliff and on her many journeys to and from the upturned boat.
+
+
+
+
+CATHERINE VASSEUR, THE HEROINE OF NOYEN
+
+A terrible accident had occurred in one of the streets of Noyen.  The
+men engaged in repairing a sewer had, on finishing their day's work,
+neglected to take proper precautions for the safety of the public.
+They had placed some thin planks across the opening, but omitted to
+erect a barrier or to fix warning lights near the hole, with the result
+that four workingmen, homeward bound, stepped on the planks and fell
+through into the loathsome sewer.
+
+An excited crowd of French men and women gathered round the hole, but
+no one made any effort to rescue the poor fellows.  Soon the wives of
+the imperilled men, hearing of the accident, ran to the spot, and with
+tears in their eyes begged the men who were standing round the opening
+to descend and rescue their husbands.
+
+But not a man in the crowd was brave enough to risk his life for his
+fellow-men.  They would be suffocated and eaten by rats, was their
+excuse, and the frantic entreaties of the poor wives failed to stir
+them to act like men.  Women were crying and fainting, men were
+gesticulating and talking volubly, but nothing was being done to rescue
+the poor fellows from the poisonous sewer.
+
+But help came from an unexpected quarter.  Catherine Vasseur, a
+delicate-looking servant girl, seventeen years of age, pushed her way
+to the front, and said quietly, 'I'll go down and try to save them.'
+
+It seemed impossible that this slightly built young girl could rescue
+the men, but her willingness to make the attempt did not shame any of
+the strong fellows standing by into taking her place.  All they did was
+to lower her into the dark, loathsome hole.  On arriving at the bottom
+she quickly found the four unconscious men, and tying the ropes round
+two of them gave the signal for them to be hauled up.
+
+The few minutes' work on the poisonous atmosphere was already telling
+upon her, and finding herself gasping for breath she tied a rope around
+her waist, and was drawn to the surface.  The women whose husbands she
+had saved showered blessings upon her, and the other two implored her
+to rescue theirs.  She replied that she would do so if possible, and
+having regained her breath she again descended.
+
+A third man was rescued, but before she could attend to the fourth she
+felt herself becoming dazed.  She decided to go to the surface again,
+and return for the fourth man when the fresh air had revived her.  It
+was necessary that she should be drawn up quickly, but the rope which
+had been tied around her waist had become unfastened, and it was some
+minutes before she found it.  When she did find it she was too
+exhausted to draw it down to tie around her.  For a few moments she
+tugged at the heavy rope, but could not draw it lower than her head.
+
+There seemed to be no escape for her, when suddenly a bright idea
+occurred to her--she undid her long hair and tied it to the rope.  Then
+she gave the signal to haul up.
+
+Cries of horror and pity burst from the onlookers when they caught
+sight of the brave girl hanging by her hair, and apparently dead.
+Quickly untying her, they carried her into the fresh air, where she was
+promptly attended to by a doctor, who eventually succeeded in restoring
+her to consciousness.  She received the praise bestowed upon her with
+the modesty of a genuine heroine, and was greatly distressed at having
+been unable to save the fourth man.  The poor fellow was dead long
+before his body was recovered by the sewermen, for none of the men who
+had witnessed Catherine Vasseur's heroism had been brave enough to
+follow her example.
+
+
+
+
+MARY ROGERS AND THE WRECK OF THE STELLA
+
+It was at 11.25 on the morning of Thursday, March 30, 1899, that the
+steamship Stella left Southampton for Guernsey with 140 passengers and
+42 crew aboard.  Most of the passengers were looking forward to
+spending a pleasant Easter holiday at Guernsey or Jersey, but a few
+were natives of the Channel Islands returning from a visit to England.
+
+For the first two hours the voyage was uneventful, but at about 1.30
+the Stella ran into a dense fog.  The ship's speed was not reduced, but
+the fog-horn was kept going.  There is nothing more depressing at sea
+than the dismal hooting of the fog-horn, and it is not surprising that
+some of the ladies aboard the Stella became nervous.  These Mrs.
+Rogers, the stewardess, in a bright, cheery manner endeavoured to
+reassure.
+
+Mary Rogers' life had been one of hard work and self-denial.  Eighteen
+years previous to the Stella making her last trip Mary Rogers' husband
+had been drowned at sea, and the young widow was left with a little
+girl two years old to support; and a few weeks later a boy was born.
+To bring her children up carefully and have them properly educated
+became Mrs. Rogers' chief object in life, and to enable her to do this
+she obtained her position as stewardess.
+
+Her experience of the sea had been slight, and for five years after
+becoming stewardess she scarcely ever made a trip without being
+sea-sick.  Many women would have resigned the appointment in despair,
+but Mary Rogers stuck to her post for the sake of her children.  Ill
+though she might herself be, she always managed to appear happy, and to
+attend promptly to the requirements of the lady passengers.  When at
+last she was able to make a voyage without feeling sea-sick, her
+kindness to the ladies in her care became still more noticeable.  In
+foggy or rough weather her bright, sympathetic manner cheered the
+drooping spirits of all who might be ill or nervous.  At night she
+would go round, uncalled, and if she found any lady too nervous to
+sleep she would stay and talk to her for a time.
+
+Only a few months before the Stella's fatal trip, a lady passenger
+assured Mrs. Rogers that her bright, cheery sympathy had done much to
+make her trip pleasant.  'Well, you see, ma'am,' Mrs. Rogers replied,
+'I don't believe in going about with a sad face, and it is such a
+pleasure when one can help others.'
+
+At this time Mrs. Rogers' prospects were very bright.  Her children,
+whom she declared 'any mother might be proud of, they are so good,' had
+grown up, and her daughter was to be married in the summer.  In three
+years her son would finish his apprenticeship to a ship-builder, and it
+was settled that then she was to retire from sea-life and live with her
+daughter, continuing, as she had done for several years, to support her
+aged father.  But the days to which she was looking forward with
+pleasure she was never to see.
+
+For two hours the Stella ran through the dense fog on this fatal March
+30, and at about ten minutes to four the captain was under the
+impression that the Casquets lay eight miles to the east.  But suddenly
+they loomed out of the darkness, and almost immediately the Stella
+struck one of the dreaded rocks.  Instantly the captain saw that there
+was no hope of saving his ship.
+
+'Serve out the life-belts!'  'Out with the boats!'  'Women and children
+first!' were the orders he shouted from the bridge.
+
+Mrs. Rogers did not for a moment lose her presence of mind, and by her
+activity many women were saved who would in all probability never have
+reached the deck.  The ladies' saloon was long, but the door was
+somewhat narrow, and being round an awkward corner there would have
+been a fearful struggle to get through it, had a panic arisen.  But
+Mrs. Rogers, by her calmness and promptitude, prevented anything
+approaching a panic, and got her passengers quickly on deck.
+
+To all who had not provided themselves with them she gave life-belts,
+and then assisted them into the boats.  The last boat was nearly
+full--there was room for only one more--and the sailors in charge of it
+called to Mrs. Rogers to come into it.
+
+Before attempting to do so she took a last look round, to see that all
+the ladies were gone, and saw that there was one still there, and
+without a life-belt.  Instantly Mrs. Rogers took off her own, placed it
+upon her, led her to the boat, and gave up her last chance of escape.
+But the sailors who had witnessed her heroism did not wish to pull away
+without her.
+
+'Jump, Mrs. Rogers, jump!' they shouted.
+
+'No, no,' she replied, 'if I get in, the boat will sink.  Good-bye,
+good-bye.'
+
+Then raising her hands to heaven she cried, 'Lord, have me!' and almost
+immediately the ship sank beneath her.
+
+Seventy lives were lost in the wreck of the Stella, and the news of the
+terrible calamity cast a gloom over the Easter holidays.  An inquiry
+was held to determine the cause of the ship getting out of her course,
+but the result need not be mentioned here.  One thing that soon came to
+light was the story of Mary Rogers' heroism, which sent a thrill of
+admiration through all who heard it.
+
+Her well-spent life had been crowned with an act of heroism, and her
+memory is deserving of more than the tablet which has been placed in
+the Postmen's Park.
+
+
+
+
+MADELEINE BLANCHET
+
+THE HEROINE OF BUZANCAIS
+
+The Red Republicans had risen.  The factories and private residences of
+the wealthy inhabitants of Buzancais were in flames, and owners of
+property, irrespective of age and sex, were being dragged from their
+hiding-places and murdered.
+
+For some months it had been rumoured that the Red Republicans,
+aggrieved at the high price of bread, intended to rise and kill all who
+possessed wealth; but the people of Buzancais paid no attention to
+these rumours, and were consequently unprepared to defend themselves
+when, on January 14, 1853, the rising occurred.  Had they banded
+themselves together, they could have quelled the riot, but, taken by
+the surprise, the majority sought safety in hiding.
+
+Meeting with no resistance, the Red Republicans pushed through the
+town, leaving behind them a trail of fire and blood, and came at last
+to a big house where lived Madame Chambert and her son.
+
+Madame Chambert was a kind old lady, and generous to the poor; but the
+Red Republicans, inflamed by wine which they had stolen from various
+houses, forgot her good deeds, and remembered only that she was
+wealthy.  And because she was wealthy they were determined to kill both
+her and her son.
+
+Madame Chambert and her son were in the drawing-room when the
+infuriated mob burst into the house.  It was useless to attempt to
+drive them out, as all the servants, with the exception of Madeleine
+Blanchet and a man, had deserted them.  At last the armed mob, their
+blouses stained with blood and wine, rushed into the drawing-room
+hurling insults at the poor old lady, and charging her with crimes
+which she had never committed.
+
+Madeleine Blanchet fainted on hearing her mistress so grossly insulted,
+but the man-servant rushed at the ringleader and knocked him down.  The
+half-drunk murderers were eager to kill the Chamberts at once, plunder
+the house, set light to it, and pass on; but as they stepped forward to
+kill the old lady her son fired his gun and killed one of them.
+
+The whole mob now rushed at Monsieur Chambert, who escaped from the
+room, but was caught before he could find a hiding-place, and hacked to
+death.
+
+In the meanwhile Madeleine Blanchet had recovered consciousness, and
+going to her mistress, whom she had served for nine years, she hurried
+her from the room to seek a place of safety.  But in the hall they came
+face to face with the murderers returning from committing their latest
+crime.  'Death! death!' they shouted, and attempted to strike the old
+lady, but Madeleine Blanchet, with one arm around her waist, received
+the blows intended for her.
+
+'Go, go, my poor girl!' Madame Chambert murmured.  'I must die here.
+Go away.'
+
+But Madeleine Blanchet refused to leave her, and shouted to the
+cowardly ruffians, 'You shall not kill my mistress until you have
+killed me!'
+
+Still parrying the blows aimed at her mistress, she implored the men
+not to be such cowards as to kill a helpless old lady.  This appeal and
+her devotion to her mistress touched the hearts of two of the Red
+Republicans, who declared that the old lady should not be killed while
+they could strike a blow in her defence.  Guarded by these two men,
+Madeleine Blanchet carried her mistress to a neighbour's house, where a
+hiding-place was found for her.
+
+Assured that her mistress was safe from further molestation, Madeleine
+Blanchet hurried back to the house, which the rioters were looting, and
+saved many treasures from falling into their hands.  This dangerous
+self-imposed task she performed several times.
+
+The Red Republicans' reign at Buzancais was terrible, but it was short.
+Scores of them were arrested, and Madeleine Blanchet was one of the
+witnesses for the prosecution.  She told of the attack upon her
+mistress's house and the murder of her young master, but not a word did
+she say concerning her own bravery.  The President of the Court had,
+however, heard of it, and was determined that her heroism should not be
+unknown because of her modesty.
+
+'We have been told,' he said to her, 'that you defended your mistress
+with your body from the blows of the murderers, and that you declared
+that they should kill you before they killed your mistress.  Is that
+true?'
+
+Madeleine replied that it was, and the President, after commending her
+for her bravery and devotion to her mistress, declared that if there
+had been twenty men in Buzancais with the courage she had shown, the
+rioters would have been quickly dispersed and the terrible crimes
+averted.  The story of Madeleine Blanchet's heroism spread rapidly
+throughout France, and the Academy made a popular award, when it
+presented her with a gold medal and five thousand francs.
+
+
+
+
+HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL
+
+On October 14, 1881, a gale raged throughout England, and in all parts
+of the country there was a terrible destruction of lives and property.
+Round our coasts ships were wrecked, and the number of lives lost at
+sea on that day was appalling, while on shore many people were killed
+by the falling of trees, chimney-pots and tiles.
+
+In Sutton, Lancashire, the gale raged with tremendous fury, and the
+children in the local National School, frightened by the roaring and
+shrieking of the wind, could pay little attention to their lessons.
+Hannah Rosbotham, the assistant mistress, was in charge of the school,
+the head mistress being absent through ill-health.  She was very
+popular among her pupils, and knew them all intimately, having herself
+lived all her life in the village, and having been educated at the
+school in which she was now a teacher.  She calmed the more timid of
+her pupils, and endeavoured to carry on the school as if nothing
+unusual were happening outside.
+
+While she was teaching the bigger children, the infants (little tots of
+three and four) were sitting in the gallery at the further end of the
+room in the care of a pupil teacher.  Over this gallery was the belfry,
+a large stone structure.  It had weathered many a storm, but none had
+equalled this gale.  Suddenly about 11 o'clock Hannah Rosbotham was
+startled by a loud rumbling, grinding noise, and almost at the same
+moment a portion of the belfry crashed through the roof and fell in
+pieces upon the poor little children in the gallery.
+
+Immediately there was a stampede.  The pupils and the pupil teachers
+rushed terror-stricken into the wind-swept playground, every one
+anxious for her own safety.  But Hannah Rosbotham did not fly from the
+danger; she thought only of the little children in the gallery.  The
+air was filled with dust, but she groped her way to the gallery
+staircase, which was littered with stone, wood and slates.  Hurrying up
+she found, to her great joy, that many of the little ones had escaped
+injury.  Some were crying, but others sat silent and terror-stricken,
+gazing at the spot where several of their little friends lay buried in
+the ruins.
+
+Having hurried out the children who had so wonderfully escaped injury,
+she set to work to rescue those who lay injured.  And the magnitude of
+the task which lay before her may be realised from the fact that
+sixteen-hundredweight of belfry-ruins had fallen through into the
+gallery.  Quickly and unaided Hannah Rosbotham tore away the timber,
+stone and slate that were crushing the little sufferers, whose pale
+faces and pleading voices filled her heart with anguish, but gave
+strength to her arms.  As she knelt tearing away with her bare hands
+the mass of ruins, fragments of stone and slate fell continuously
+around her, and she knew that at any moment she might be struck dead.
+The gale was still raging, and as she glanced up through the hole in
+the roof she saw the part of the belfry which had not yet given way.  A
+continuous shower of fragments fell from it, but if the remaining
+portion were blown down simultaneously, she and her infant pupils would
+be crushed to death.
+
+Working with tremendous energy she set free one by one the terrified
+young prisoners.  Some were very little hurt, and were able to hurry
+away into the playground, but there were others who had been severely
+injured, and these she had to carry away.
+
+At last her task was done, and happily without any serious results to
+herself.  Although she had been throughout her brave work surrounded by
+danger she escaped with nothing more serious than a few scratches.
+
+When she came into the playground with the last of the children she had
+rescued, she found that the villagers had arrived on the scene.  They
+had heard of the accident, and had come to seek their children, and
+having found them alive they joined in showering praise and blessings
+upon Hannah Rosbotham.  Now that all danger was over the brave young
+schoolmistress--she was only twenty years of age--broke down and cried
+hysterically, but before long she was calm again, and started out to
+visit at their homes the little ones whom she had saved.
+
+Such bravery as Hannah Rosbotham had shown could not of course escape
+recognition.  The Albert Medal was presented to her on January 11,
+1882, and later the Managers of the Sutton National School gave her a
+gold watch, on which was inscribed their appreciation 'of her
+courageous behaviour in rescuing the school-children during the gale of
+October 14, 1881, that destroyed the roof of the school, and for which
+act of bravery she has been awarded the Albert Medal by Her Majesty.'
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN THE MISSION FIELD
+
+
+JANE CHALMERS
+
+ALONE AMONGST CANNIBALS
+
+Alone among cannibals!  One can scarcely imagine a more terrifying
+experience for a white woman.  No matter how friendly people around
+might be, the knowledge that they were by long habit cannibals, whose
+huts were adorned with human skulls, would be sufficient to strike
+terror to the heart of the bravest.  One woman is known to have
+experienced this trying ordeal, and she was a missionary's wife.
+
+In the life of that noble missionary, James Chalmers,[1] we get
+glimpses of a woman who was indeed a heroine, and who had the
+unpleasant experience of being left for a time, without any white
+companions, in the midst of cannibals.  This was Jane Chalmers the
+martyr-missionary's first wife.
+
+Jane Hercus was married to Chalmers in October, 1865, and in the
+following January they sailed for Australia on their way to the South
+Sea Islands.  At the very outset of their missionary career danger
+assailed them.  A gale sprang up in the Channel, and for a time it was
+believed that the ship and everyone aboard her would be lost.
+Providentially, however, their vessel weathered the storm, although so
+much damaged that she had to put into Weymouth, and remain there a
+fortnight for repairs.  On May 20 they arrived in Adelaide, and in
+August sailed from Sydney for the New Hebrides; but while approaching
+Aneiteum, to land some passengers, the ship struck an unseen reef, and
+could not be got off until some days had elapsed.  Temporary repairs
+were made, and with men working at the pumps day and night the ship
+slowly made her way back to Sydney.  After six weeks' enforced stay at
+Sydney, Jane Chalmers and her husband made another start for their
+destination, which, however, they were not to reach without further
+danger.
+
+On January 8 the ship struck on a reef which surrounds Savage Island,
+and became a total wreck, but happily, without loss of life, as the
+passengers and crew managed to get off in the boats.  They reached
+shore in safety, but although Jane Chalmers was ill for some time,
+neither she nor her husband were discouraged.
+
+Six weeks after the wreck of the ship, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers left on a
+schooner for Samoa, and during the voyage Mrs. Chalmers' health
+improved.  After a six weeks' stay at Samoa Chalmers and his wife
+sailed for Rarotonga, and on May 20, 1867, arrived there.  In that
+beautiful island Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers settled down at once to work.
+'The natives,' Mrs. Chalmers wrote, 'have to be treated in all things
+more like children at home than men.  They soon get weary and
+discouraged in any work, but a few words of praise or encouragement put
+fresh spirit within them.'  Missionaries had laboured at Rarotonga
+before the arrival of the Chalmers, and the work was not exactly the
+type which James Chalmers desired.  He longed to be a missionary to the
+heathen; but it was not until he had spent ten years at Rarotonga that
+his desire was gratified by his being appointed to New Guinea, then a
+comparatively unknown land, the people of which were savages of the
+most degraded type.
+
+At Dunedin, where the Chalmers stayed for a time, Mrs. Chalmers was
+frequently urged to remain behind until her husband was settled in his
+new home.  'No,' she replied on every occasion 'my place is by my
+husband's side.'  And so this brave woman, in spite of the
+protestations of her friends, went forth with her husband to live among
+cannibals.  The first native who spoke to Mrs. Chalmers on their
+arrival at Suau was wearing a necklace of human bones, and wishing to
+be gracious to her, this same cannibal offered her later a portion of a
+man's breast ready cooked!  Signs of cannibalism were to be found
+everywhere, and the chief's house in which the Chalmers took up their
+residence until their own was built, was hung with human skulls.  Such
+sights as Jane Chalmers witnessed were bad enough to appal any woman,
+but she bore up bravely, and was soon busy learning the language from a
+young warrior, whom, in return, she taught knitting and tatting.  Both
+she and her husband made friends quickly, and some of their new
+friends, intending to please them, invited the missionary and his wife
+to a cannibal feast.
+
+Nevertheless, it was not long before the Chalmers were in great danger
+of losing their lives.  The vessel which had brought them to New Guinea
+was still standing off the island, and the natives, in an attempt to
+capture it, had one of their number killed.  For this they demanded
+compensation from Chalmers, who, of course, was in no way responsible
+for the man's death.  Chalmers promised to give them compensation on
+the following day, but the natives demanded that it should be given
+immediately, and departed very sulkily when their request was refused.
+Later in the day a native warned Chalmers that he, his wife, and his
+teachers from Rarotonga had better get away to the ship during the
+night, as the natives had decided to murder them early in the following
+morning.  Chalmers told his wife what the native had said, and added,
+'It is for you to decide.  Shall we men stay, and you women go, as
+there is not room enough for us all on the vessel? or shall we try all
+of us to go? or shall we all stay?'
+
+'We have come here to preach the Gospel and do these people good,' Mrs.
+Chalmers replied.  'God, whom we serve, will take care of us.  We will
+stay.  If we die, we die; if we live, we live.'
+
+Then the teachers' wives were asked if they would like to go aboard the
+ship, but their answer was that whatever Mrs. Chalmers did they would
+do.  Therefore it was decided that they should all stay.
+
+During the night the little band of Christians could hear the war-horn
+calling the natives together, and the shouts of the cannibals as they
+came in from all parts.
+
+In the meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers had made up in parcels the
+compensation which they intended to offer the people; but when, at four
+o'clock in the morning, the chief arrived to make a last demand he
+declared that they were not sufficient.
+
+'If you will wait till the steamer comes I may be able to give you
+more,' Chalmers said, 'but at present I cannot.'
+
+'I must have more now,' the chief declared, and departed.
+
+The attack was now expected every minute, but hour after hour passed
+and the natives did not re-appear.  At three o'clock in the morning
+Chalmers turned in, but he had not long been asleep when his wife
+discovered the cannibals approaching.  Chalmers, aroused by his wife,
+ran to the door and faced the savages.
+
+'What do you want?' he asked.
+
+'Give us more compensation,' the leader replied, 'or we will kill you
+and burn the house.'
+
+'Kill you may, but no more compensation do I give,' Chalmers answered.
+'Remember that if we die, we shall die fighting.'
+
+Then Chalmers took down his musket and loaded it in sight of the
+cannibals, who, having seen the missionary shoot birds, feared his
+skill.  They withdrew and discussed what to do.  For about an hour and
+a half the band of Christians waited for the attack to be made.  Many
+of them were, naturally enough, much distressed at the thought of being
+killed and eaten, but throughout this trying time Jane Chalmers
+remained calm, assured that whatever might happen would be in
+accordance with God's will.
+
+But the Chalmers' life-work was not yet ended.  The chief of the
+village decided that they should not be killed.  'Before this white man
+came here with his friends I was nobody,' he said to the men who had
+assembled from other parts of New Guinea.  'They have brought me
+tomahawks, hoop-iron, red beads and cloth.  You have no white man, and
+if you try to kill him, you kill him over my body.'
+
+It would have been only natural if Jane Chalmers, after the experiences
+she had undergone, had decided that she could no longer live at Suau;
+but no such thought ever entered her head.  Some months later she did
+as not one woman in a million would have done--remained for six weeks
+among cannibals with not another white person in the place.
+
+Her husband sailed away to visit the native preachers at other
+villages, but she remained behind because she did not think it right
+that they should both leave their Rarotongan teachers so soon after the
+disturbances already described.  The natives promised Chalmers, before
+he departed, that they would treat her kindly; and although the
+temptation to kill and eat her must often have been great, they kept
+their promise.  But nevertheless she knew that her life might be ended
+at any moment, and it is easy to imagine her feelings when, one night
+as she was preparing for bed, she heard a commotion outside the house,
+men and women shouting and screaming loudly.  One of the teachers went
+out to discover the meaning of the uproar, and returned with the
+comforting news that there was an eclipse of the moon, and that the
+natives were alarmed because they believed it would cause many of them
+to die.
+
+The cannibals were very proud of having taken care of Mrs. Chalmers,
+and received with a conviction that they had well earned them, the
+presents and thanks which her husband, on his return, bestowed upon
+them.  At the same time Mrs. Chalmers' pluck in remaining among them
+made a great impression on the cannibals, and caused them to have more
+confidence than ever in the missionaries.
+
+But although Jane Chalmers was as full of courage and faith as when she
+arrived at Suau the trials and excitement of the life she had led there
+began to impair her health.  Nevertheless, she did not complain, and
+when the mission at Suau was established on a sound footing she
+accompanied her husband on a voyage along the coast to visit places
+where a white man had never yet been seen; but eventually it became
+plain to herself and her husband that she needed rest and nursing.
+Accordingly she sailed for Sydney, to wait there until her husband
+could follow and take her to England.  But they never met again.  The
+doctors at Sydney pronounced her to be suffering from consumption, and
+held out little hope of her recovery.  She, however, was very hopeful,
+and believed that before long she might be able to return to her
+husband at New Guinea.  But this was not to be, and this heroic woman
+passed away before her husband's arrival.
+
+
+
+[1] _James Chalmers, his Autobiography and Letters_, by Richard Lovett,
+M.A.  (Religious Tract Society.)
+
+
+
+
+ANNA HINDERER, AND THE GOSPEL IN THE YORUBA COUNTRY
+
+'The White Man's Grave' and 'No White Man's Land' are the ominous names
+that have been bestowed on several unhealthy countries where Europeans
+have been compelled to reside; but there were none, fifty years ago,
+more deserving of being so described than Ashantee, Dahomey, and the
+Yoruba country.  Nothing but the prospect of growing rich rapidly would
+persuade a white man, unless he were a missionary, to live in any of
+those countries, and a European woman was almost unknown there.
+
+One of the first white women to risk the dangers of the Yoruba climate
+was Anna Hinderer, to whom belongs the honour of being the first of her
+colour to visit Ibadan.  It was not, however, a mere visit that she
+paid to this unhealthy West African town; for seventeen years she lived
+there with her husband, devoting herself almost entirely to educating
+the native children.
+
+Her mother died when she was five years old, and it was probably owing
+to her own childhood being sad and lonely that Anna Martin, afterwards
+Mrs. Hinderer, early in life began to take an interest in the welfare
+of poor and neglected children.  In 1839, when only twelve years of
+age, she went to live with her grandfather at Lowestoft, and soon made
+two lifelong friends.  They were the Rev. Francis Cunningham, Vicar of
+Lowestoft, and his wife, who was sister of that noble Quakeress,
+Elizabeth Fry.  The friendship began by Anna Martin asking Mrs.
+Cunningham to be allowed to take a Sunday School class.  She feared
+that being only twelve years old her request would not be entertained,
+but to her great joy it was granted at once.  A little later she went
+to live with the Cunninghams, and was never so happy as when assisting
+in some good work.  When only fourteen years of age she started a class
+for ragged and neglected children, and eventually she had as many as
+two hundred pupils.  Many other schemes for the happiness of children
+were suggested by her, and, with the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham,
+successfully carried out.
+
+Anna Martin had long wished to be a missionary when she made the
+acquaintance of the Rev. David Hinderer, who had returned to England
+after labouring for four years in the Yoruba country, which stretches
+inland from the Bight of Benin almost to the Niger Territory, and is
+bordered on the west by Dahomey.  Anna Martin was deeply interested in
+all that Mr. Hinderer told her of his little-known land, where lived
+some three million heathen, broken up into many tribes, but speaking
+one language.  Before long the missionary asked Anna Martin to become
+his wife, and on October 14, 1852, they were married at the old parish
+church of Lowestoft.
+
+Seven weeks after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer started for
+Africa, and arrived at Lagos on Christmas Eve.  Mrs. Hinderer had
+suffered greatly from sea-sickness throughout the voyage, and three
+weeks after her arrival at Lagos she had her first attack of African
+fever.  It was a sharp one, and left her very weak, but as soon as she
+was sufficiently strong to travel they started in canoes for Abeokuta.
+This was indeed a trying journey for a young woman who had been
+accustomed to the comforts of a well-to-do English home; but she had,
+of course, made up her mind to bear hardships in her Master's service,
+and whether they were sleeping in a village or in a tent pitched by the
+river-side, with fires lighted to keep wild beasts at a distance, she
+made no complaint.  Sometimes she was home-sick, but these natural fits
+of depression soon passed away.
+
+On arriving at Abeokuta Anna Hinderer had another severe attack of
+fever, which, as she stated in her diary, edited many years later by
+Archdeacon Hone, and published with the title _Seventeen Years in the
+Yoruba Country_, left her so weak that she could hardly lift her hand
+to her head.  Her husband was also down with fever; a missionary with
+whom they were staying died of it; and, a few weeks later, another
+missionary passed suddenly away.  A more gloomy beginning to a young
+worker's missionary career there could scarcely have been, but Anna
+Hinderer was far from being disheartened, and was eager to reach their
+destination.
+
+At last they arrived at Ibadan.  Mr. Hinderer had made known that he
+was bringing her, and when the news, 'the white mother is come,' spread
+through the village, men, women and children rushed out to see her.
+Very few of them had ever seen a white woman, for, as already stated,
+Anna Hinderer was the first to visit Ibadan, and their curiosity was
+somewhat embarrassing.  They followed her to her new home, and for days
+hung about in crowds, anxious to catch a glimpse of her.
+
+The mission-house was not an attractive or comfortable place.  It
+consisted of one room, 30 feet by 6.  Anna Hinderer had to exercise her
+ingenuity in making it appear homelike.  How she managed to do this we
+gather from the following extract from a letter written by Dr. Irving,
+R.N., who visited Ibadan shortly after they had settled down:--
+
+'Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer at present live in such a funny little place;
+quite a primitive mud dwelling, where no two persons can walk abreast
+at one time.  And yet there is an air of quiet domestic comfort and
+happiness about it that makes it a little palace in my eyes.  It is
+unfortunate, however, for my temples, for in screwing in at one door
+and out at the other, forgetting to stoop at the proper time, my head
+gets many a knock.  At one end, six feet square, is the bedroom,
+separated from the dining-room by a standing bookcase; my bedroom is at
+one end of this, formed by a sofa, and my privacy established by a
+white sheet, put across for a screen at bedtime.'
+
+In a very short time Anna Hinderer became popular with the women and
+children, and set to work to learn the language.  The boys being eager
+to learn English she would point to a tree, pig, horse, or anything
+near by, and the youngsters would tell her the Yoruba name for it.  In
+return she told them the English name.  But long before she had
+acquired anything like a useful knowledge of the language she managed
+to make the women and children understand that Sunday was a day of
+rest, and was delighted to see that many of them followed her example
+and gave up their Sunday occupations.  The women were indeed deeply
+attached to her.  If she looked hot they fanned her, and whenever they
+saw that she was tired they insisted upon her sitting down.  When she
+had an attack of fever they were greatly distressed, and constantly
+inquiring how she was progressing.
+
+Having at last acquired a fair knowledge of the Yoruba language, Anna
+Hinderer started a day school for children, and to nine little boys who
+were regular in their attendance she gave a blue shirt each, of which
+they were immensely proud.  A little later she prevailed upon a chief
+to allow his two children to come and live with her.  One was a girl
+six years of age, and the other her brother, two years younger.
+Throughout the day the little ones were very happy, but towards evening
+the girl wanted to go home.  She was evidently frightened, and was
+overheard saying to her brother, "Don't stay.  When it gets dark the
+white people kill and eat the black."  Both, then, ran off home, but
+returned the following morning.  A few days later the boy, in spite of
+his sister's warnings, stayed all night.  The girl left him in great
+distress, and at daybreak was waiting outside the mission-house,
+anxious to see if he were still alive.  Her astonishment on finding
+that he had been treated as kindly after dark as during daylight was
+great.
+
+It was no easy task to manage a school of native children, but,
+nevertheless, the experience she had gained among the Lowestoft
+children made the task lighter than otherwise it would have been.
+'Happy, happy years were those I spent with you,' she wrote to Mr.
+Cunningham, 'and entirely preparatory they have been for my work and
+calling.'  She managed to impress upon her dusky little pupils that it
+was necessary to wash more than once or twice a week, and that they
+must keep quiet during school and service.
+
+One day while her husband was preaching he referred to idols, and
+quoted the Psalm, 'They have mouths, and speak not.'  No sooner had he
+said this than Mrs. Hinderer's boys burst into loud laughter, and
+shouted, in their own language, 'True, very true.'
+
+Soon after their temporary church--a large shed covered with palm
+leaves--had been completed and opened there came a period of trial.
+Mrs. Hinderer's horse stumbled and fell upon her, and although no bones
+were broken she found later that she had received an injury which
+troubled her until her death.  No sooner had she recovered from the
+shaking she had received, than her husband had a bad attack of fever.
+It was believed that he would die, but she nursed him day and night,
+and eventually had the great joy of seeing him recover.  But soon she
+was seriously ill.  Inflammation of the lungs set in, and for a time
+her life seemed to be drawing to a close, but she recovered, and was
+before long once more at work among the women and children.
+
+It was about this time that Mrs. Hinderer wrote to her Lowestoft
+friends:--'You will not think me egotistical, but this I do think, if I
+am come to Africa for nothing else, I have found the way to a few
+children's hearts, and, if spared, I think I shall not, with God's
+blessing, find it very difficult to do something with them.  My boys
+that I have now would never tell me an untruth, or touch a cowry or
+anything they should not.  This is truly wonderful in heathen boys,
+brought up all their lives, hitherto, in the midst of every kind of
+deceit.'
+
+After a stay at Abeokuta for the benefit of her health, Anna Hinderer
+returned to Ibadan, to find the new church and mission-house finished.
+The natives had taken great interest in the building of the
+mission-house, and, soon after the Hinderers' return, the head chief,
+accompanied by his wives and a host of attendants, came to see it.
+They received a cordial welcome, but so many people swarmed into the
+house that Mr. Hinderer began to fear it would collapse, and had to
+keep out scores who wished to enter.  The chief found much to amuse him
+in this European-furnished house, and was immensely amused when for the
+first time he saw himself in a looking-glass.  His wives were shown
+round by Mrs. Hinderer, and arriving at the bed-room they pointed to a
+washstand and asked its use.  For reply Mrs. Hinderer poured out some
+water and washed her hands.  Now the chief's wives had never before
+seen soap, and to dry their hands after washing was a proceeding of
+which they had never heard; therefore each became anxious to there and
+then wash their hands in European fashion.  Water was splashed about
+the floor and wall, and when they wiped their hands the indigo dye from
+their clothes ruined the towel.
+
+Anna Hinderer, although frequently in bad health, continued her work
+among the children with unabated enthusiasm, and in November, 1885, she
+had the joy of seeing eight of them baptized.  Two months later the
+state of her health made it imperative that she should proceed to Lagos
+for a rest.  Her husband accompanied her, but both were eager to get
+back to their work, and were absent for only a few weeks.  But during
+that short time much had happened at Ibadan.  The natives had begun to
+persecute the converts, and some had forbidden their children to attend
+the church or mission-school.
+
+One girl who refused to give up attending church was shamefully
+treated.  A rope was tied round her body, and she was dragged through
+the streets while the mob beat her with sticks and stoned her.  As she
+lay bleeding and half dead the native idols were brought out and placed
+before her.  'Now she bows down,' the mob cried; but the girl answered.
+'No, I do not; you have put me here.  I can never bow down to gods of
+wood and stone who cannot hear me.'  Eventually, after suffering
+ill-treatment daily, she ran away to Abeokuta.
+
+For the next seven months Anna Hinderer continued without ceasing to
+teach the children, nurse those who were sick, and adopt any little
+girl-baby who had been deserted by her inhuman parents.  Then Mr.
+Hinderer, after six months' illness, was stricken with yellow fever,
+and it became imperative that he should go to England for his health's
+sake.  On August 1, 1856, Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer sailed from Lagos for
+home.  And yet Anna Hinderer did not feel as if she were going home,
+but that she were leaving it, for Ibadan was beloved by her.  Husband
+and wife were in bad health throughout the voyage, and the captain's
+parting words to the latter as she went ashore at England were:--'You
+must not come to sea again; it cannot be your duty.  A few more voyages
+must kill you.'  Nevertheless, two years later, Anna Hinderer and her
+husband, restored in health, were back at Ibadan.
+
+Two years of hard work followed.  The school was filled, the natives
+had ceased from persecuting the converts, and the prospects of
+missionary work were brighter than ever, when suddenly the news came
+that the fiendish King of Dahomey was marching on Abeokuta.  Mr. and
+Mrs. Hinderer were at Abeokuta when the news arrived, and at once they
+hastened back to Ibadan, although there was a danger of being captured
+and tortured by the invading force.  They reached Ibadan in safety,
+only, however, to find that the chief of that place was at war with the
+chief of Ijaye, a neighbouring town.  The place was full of excitement
+and a human sacrifice was offered, the victim, prior to the ceremony,
+walking proudly through the town.
+
+Anna Hinderer and her husband could at first have made their way to the
+coast, but they decided to remain with their converts and pupils.  It
+was a bitter war, and soon the Hinderers were cut off from all
+communication with their fellow-missionaries in the Yoruba country.
+Supplies ran short, and they were compelled to sell their personal
+belongings to obtain food for themselves and the children.  'We sold a
+counterpane and a few yards of damask which had been overlooked by us;'
+runs an entry in Anna Hinderer's diary, 'so that we indulge every now
+and then in one hundred cowries' worth of meat (about one pennyworth),
+and such a morsel seems a little feast to us in these days.'  Many of
+the native women were exceedingly kind to Anna Hinderer in the time of
+privation.  The woman who had supplied them with milk insisted upon
+sending it regularly, although told that they had no money to pay for
+it.
+
+For four years the Hinderers were almost entirely cut off from
+communication with the outer world, but they continued their labours
+unceasingly throughout this trying time.  The girls' sewing class had,
+however, to be discontinued, for the very good reason that their stock
+of needles and cotton was exhausted.  It was a time of great privation,
+but Anna Hinderer, although frequently compelled to endure the gnawing
+pangs of hunger, always managed to keep her native children supplied
+with food.
+
+At last relief came.  The Governor of Lagos had made one or two
+unsuccessful attempts to relieve the Hinderers, and in April, 1865,
+devised a means of escape.  He despatched Captain Maxwell with a few
+trustworthy men, to cut a new track through the bush.
+
+It was a difficult undertaking, but successfully accomplished, and one
+night, about ten o'clock, the Hinderers were surprised to see Captain
+Maxwell enter the mission-house.  He brought with him supplies, and
+also a hammock for Mrs. Hinderer's use on the return journey.
+
+It was somewhat of a surprise to the gallant officer to find that the
+missionaries for whom he had performed a difficult and dangerous
+journey were by no means anxious to return with him.  It was the more
+surprising as it was plain that both were in very bad health.  Mr.
+Hinderer declared that he could not possibly leave his mission at seven
+hours' notice, but he joined the captain in urging his wife to go,
+assuring her that it was her duty to do so.  At last she was prevailed
+upon to avail herself of the means of escape.  She was overcome with
+grief at leaving her husband shut up in Ibadan, and her distress was
+increased by her inability to say 'good-bye' to the little native
+children to whom she had acted a mother's part.  They were asleep, and
+to have awakened them would have been unwise, for there would certainly
+have been loud crying, had the little ones been told that their "white
+mother" was leaving them.  Their crying would have been heard beyond
+the mission-house compound, and the news of Mrs. Hinderer's approaching
+departure would have spread through the town, in which there were
+probably spies of the enemy.
+
+Seven hours after Captain Maxwell arrived he began his dangerous return
+journey, his men carrying Mrs. Hinderer in the hammock.  They proceeded
+by forced marches, keeping at the same time a sharp look-out for the
+enemy, who would, they knew, promptly kill any Christian who fell into
+their power.  On several occasions they suddenly found themselves so
+close to the enemy that they could hear their voices, but, fortunately,
+they were not discovered.  On the third day, however, they heard that
+their departure had become known to the enemy, who was in hot pursuit.
+It was a terribly anxious time for the invalid missionary, but Captain
+Maxwell and his men were determined that she should not be captured.
+Silently and without halting once, even for food, they hurried on hour
+after hour, and finally arrived at Lagos, having done a six days'
+journey in less than three and a half.  So carefully had Captain
+Maxwell's men carried Anna Hinderer that she was little the worse for
+the journey, and after a few days' rest sailed for England.  Two months
+later her husband followed.
+
+In the autumn of the following year Anna Hinderer and her husband
+returned to Ibadan, where they were received joyfully.  Anna Hinderer
+resumed her work with all her former enthusiasm and love, although she
+found before long that she had not sufficient strength to do all that
+she had done formerly.
+
+Two years later the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes decided to expel
+all white men from their territory, and they urged the Ibadan chiefs to
+adopt a similar policy.  The only white people in Ibadan were the
+missionaries, and these they refused to expel.  Announcing their
+decision to the Hinderers, the chiefs said: 'We have let you do your
+work, and we have done ours, but you little know how closely we have
+watched you.  Your ways please us.  We have not only looked at your
+mouths but at your hands, and we have no complaint to lay against you.
+Just go on with your work with a quiet mind; you are our friends, and
+we are yours.'
+
+Another two years of hard work followed.  The schools were flourishing,
+and among the pupils were children of the little ones whom, many years
+previously, Anna Hinderer had taken into her home and cared for.  The
+chiefs continued to be friendly, and only one thing was wanting to make
+Anna Hinderer perfectly happy.  Frequent attacks of fever had so
+weakened her that she began to feel that the work was beyond her
+strength.  Her husband, too, was never free from pain.  They recognised
+that they could not live much longer in Africa.  Gladly they would have
+remained and died at Ibadan, but for the knowledge that their work
+could now be better carried on by younger missionaries.  So with a sad
+heart Anna Hinderer bade farewell to the people among whom she had
+bravely toiled for seventeen years.  She had lost the sight of one eye,
+and the specialist whom she consulted in London assured her that had
+she remained much longer in Africa she would have become totally blind.
+
+Although in a very weak state of health Anna Hinderer was not content
+to remain idle, and in her native county of Norfolk began to interest
+herself in factory girls and other children of the poor.  She was
+always cheerful, and few people knew how much she was suffering from
+the effects of years of hard work and privation in a pestilential
+country.  She died on June 6, 1870, aged forty-three; and when the sad
+news reached Ibadan there was great sorrow in the town, and the
+Christian Church which she had helped to plant there forwarded to her
+husband a letter of consolation and thankfulness for the work which she
+had done among them.
+
+
+
+
+ANN JUDSON, PIONEER WOMAN IN BURMA
+
+Ann Judson was not only the first American woman to enter the foreign
+mission field, but also the first lady missionary, or missionary's
+wife, to visit Rangoon.  She was the daughter of Mr. John Hasseltine,
+of Bradford, Massachusetts, and was born on December 22, 1789.  When
+nearly seventeen years of age she became deeply impressed by the
+preaching of a local minister, and decided to do all in her power
+towards spreading the Gospel.  Sunday Schools had been started in
+America about 1791, but they were very few.  Bradford did not possess
+one, and probably it was not known there that such schools existed
+anywhere.  Ann Hasseltine, being desirous of instructing the children
+in religious knowledge, adopted the only course which occurred to her
+as likely to lead to success; she became a teacher in an ordinary day
+school.
+
+When she had been engaged in this and other Christian work about four
+years, she made the acquaintance of Adoniram Judson, a young man who
+had recently been accepted for work in the East Indies, by the newly
+formed American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.  Before
+they had known each other many months, Judson asked Ann Hasseltine to
+become his wife and accompany him to India.  He did not conceal from
+her that in all probability her life as a missionary's wife would be
+full of hardships and trials, but, after considering the matter for
+some days, she promised to marry him, providing that her father gave
+his consent.  Judson wrote to Mr. Hasseltine, and after stating that he
+had asked his daughter to become his wife, and that she had consented,
+continued: 'I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your
+daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether
+you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection
+to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can
+consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal
+influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and
+distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent
+death.  Can you consent to all this for the sake of Him who left His
+heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing
+immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?  Can you
+consent to all this, in the hope of soon meeting your daughter in the
+world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the
+acclamation of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens
+saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?'
+
+Mr. Hasseltine gave his consent, and on February 5, 1812, his daughter
+was married to Adoniram Judson.  It had now become known throughout the
+United States that Mrs. Judson intended to accompany her husband to the
+mission field, and in all quarters her intention was denounced.  She
+was accused of being both imprudent and lacking in modesty.  These
+attacks caused Ann Judson considerable pain, but they did not weaken
+her determination to accompany her husband.  They sailed for India on
+February 12, and landed at Calcutta on June 18.  On the voyage they had
+for fellow passengers some Baptist missionaries, and the result of
+their intercourse with them was that ten days after their arrival at
+Calcutta they were baptised.  By this step they lost the support of the
+Board of Commissioners who had sent them out, but aid was soon sent
+them by the American Baptists.
+
+Missionary work in India was almost at a standstill when the Judsons
+arrived at Calcutta.  The East India Company had issued an order,
+withdrawn, however, in the following year, forbidding missionaries to
+carry on their work in the Company's territory.  The Judsons received
+notice to depart before they had been in the country many months, and
+were undecided where to go.  They were anxious to settle in Rangoon,
+but everyone assured them that Lower Burma was not yet ripe for
+missionary work.  The Burmese were described to them as little better
+than fiends, and stories were told of Europeans who had met with
+torture and death at their hands.
+
+Nevertheless, the Judsons sailed for Rangoon, and in July, 1813, were
+ascending the Rangoon River, delighted with their first glimpse of the
+country.  On either side of the mighty river was dense jungle,
+extending far inland.  Here and there along the banks were small
+fishing villages, with quaint little wooden huts built on tall poles to
+prevent their being flooded or invaded by tigers, cheetahs or snakes.
+Near every village were several pagodas whose spires rose above the
+jungle; and there were many pagodas standing far from any habitation.
+
+As the Judsons drew near to Rangoon they saw on the hill, near by, the
+great Shway Dagon Pagoda with its tall, gilded spire shining in the sun
+with a brilliancy that was dazzling.  But soon they turned from gazing
+at the Mecca of the Burmese Buddhists to view the town, a big
+collection of bamboo and mat huts protected by forts with guns, which
+the people fondly believed would utterly destroy any foreign fleet
+which dared to ascend the river.  Many trading vessels were riding at
+anchor off the city, and canoes of various sizes and design were
+passing to and from them.  It was a busy scene, made bright by the
+gorgeous turbans of the rowers, and the brilliant attire of high
+officials.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Judson landed at Rangoon not only unmolested, but with a
+friendly greeting from the natives.  These swarmed round them smiling
+pleasantly, and exhibiting none of the appearances of
+atrocity-perpetrators.  The women were greatly interested in Mrs.
+Judson, and when she smiled at them they laughed merrily.  This
+unexpectedly pleasant reception greatly cheered the Judsons, and made
+them eager to begin work.  But before they could do this they had to
+learn the Burmese language, not a word of which they knew.  They could
+not obtain an interpreter, for the reason that no one, with the
+exception of a few merchants, understood English.  The European
+merchants who at that time lived in Burma were, with scarcely an
+exception, men of poor character.  A missionary was the last person
+these men would welcome or help.
+
+Having settled down in their home, Mr. and Mrs. Judson began to learn
+the Burmese language, a difficult task, considering that they had
+neither dictionary nor grammar to assist them.  Mrs. Judson, having to
+buy food and superintend her servants, soon learnt a few Burmese
+sentences, but her husband was learning the language scientifically,
+with the intention of eventually translating the Bible into Burmese.
+When both knew sufficient Burmese to make themselves understood, they
+engaged teachers to help them with their studies.
+
+Two years passed, and Mr. and Mrs. Judson were still learning the
+language.  In September, 1815, a son was born to them, but to their
+great grief he died eight months later, through want of medical
+attention.  When the child was buried, some forty Burmese and
+Portuguese followed the body to the grave.
+
+In December, 1815, Mr. and Mrs. Judson began to make known to the
+people the Gospel they had come to Burma to preach.  Until then they
+had wisely refrained from doing so, knowing that mistakes they might
+make in their speech would bring ridicule upon their religion.  But now
+that they were confident of their knowledge of the language they
+started hopefully on the work of winning converts.
+
+The time to which they had long looked forward had arrived, but the
+success which they had expected was not achieved.  The natives listened
+attentively to everything Mr. or Mrs. Judson said to them, but their
+answer was usually, 'Our religion is good for us, yours for you.'  Some
+laughed, good-humouredly, at the idea of the missionaries expecting
+them to give up the religion of their forefathers for that of the white
+_kalas_[1] from across the sea, and others declared that they were mad.
+No one, however, suggested that they should be forbidden to attempt to
+gain converts.  It did not seem worth while interfering with them; for
+what Burman living in sight of the Shway Dagon Pagoda, and near to the
+monasteries where he had learnt the precepts of Guatama Buddha, would
+even think of forsaking his religion?
+
+This indifference of the Burmese was very disheartening to the Judsons,
+and when a year had passed without their having made the slightest
+impression upon any native they might well have been discouraged.  But
+this was far from being the case, and in October, 1816, they were able
+to look forward with still greater confidence to seeing their labour
+crowned with success.  The printing press which they had long been
+expecting arrived, and two Burmese tracts which Mr. Judson had prepared
+were printed and circulated.  One was a clear explanation of
+Christianity, the other a translation of the Gospel according to
+Matthew.  The result of the wide distribution of these tracts was not
+such as the Judsons had expected.  One or two Burmans made a few
+enquiries concerning the subject of the tracts, but when their
+curiosity was satisfied they showed no further interest in the matter.
+Three years of steady hard work followed.  Mrs. Judson continued her
+efforts to win the women, and gathered around her every Sunday a large
+number to whom she read the Scriptures.  Her husband had in the
+meanwhile finished his dictionary of the Burmese language, a work for
+which successive generations of British officials, merchants and
+missionaries have had cause to be thankful, and in 1819 began to preach
+on Sundays.  Hitherto he had been speaking to individuals; now he
+addressed himself to crowds.
+
+The place in which he preached was a _zayat_ or rest-house, a big
+one-room building erected for the convenience of pilgrims who came to
+worship at the Shway Dagon Pagoda.  There was no furniture in the
+place, and the pilgrims, or any one else who cared to enter, squatted
+on the floor, or, if tired, lay down and slept.  Here, before a crowd
+of men, women, and children, all, from the old men of seventy to
+children of three or four, smoking big green cheroots, Mr. Judson
+preached Sunday after Sunday, and on April 30, 1819, made his first
+convert.  Two months later, on June 27, the convert was baptized.
+
+The Judsons, refreshed by the knowledge that their six years' toil in a
+sweltering, unhealthy country had not been wasted, continued their work
+joyfully, and soon had further cause for thankfulness.  Several natives
+were baptized, and the Judsons had every reason for believing that
+their little band of Christians would increase rapidly.
+
+Then their work received an unexpected check.  The news reached Rangoon
+that the King of Burma was highly displeased at the conversion of his
+subjects, and intended to punish both missionaries and converts.  No
+sooner was this known than the Judsons were deserted by all but their
+converts; the people who had flocked to hear Mr. Judson preach in the
+_zayat_ no longer went there, and the women ceased to attend Mrs.
+Judson's gatherings.
+
+Mr. Judson suspected that the threats emanated from the Governor of
+Rangoon, and not from the king, and, therefore, he started off,
+accompanied by a young missionary who had recently joined him, to the
+capital, to ask the king to prohibit any interference with them or
+their converts.  His majesty not only received them graciously, but
+promised, if Mr. Judson would come with his wife and settle in the
+capital, to give them his protection and a piece of ground on which to
+build a church.
+
+Mrs. Judson's ill-health prevented their accepting that invitation at
+once.  Besides attending to her domestic duties and her native classes
+she had learnt the Siamese language, and with the aid of a native had
+translated into Siamese her husband's Burmese tracts.  The Burmese
+territory in the Malay peninsula had formerly belonged to Siam, and
+after its annexation to Burma many of the Siamese came to live at
+Rangoon.  Several thousands resided there at the beginning of the
+nineteenth century, and it was that they might hear the Gospel that
+Mrs. Judson learnt their language.  Suffering from over-work and the
+unhealthiness of the city--in those days Rangoon was a pestilential
+place--Mrs. Judson sailed for Calcutta, and proceeded to Serampore.
+She was back again in January, 1821, after six months' absence, but
+during the long rainy season she had such a severe attack of fever that
+it was evident that to save her life she would have to return to
+America for a complete rest.
+
+After two years in America she returned to Rangoon in good health; and
+Mr. Judson now decided to avail themselves of the King of Burma's
+invitation to settle at Ava.  Leaving the Rangoon mission in charge of
+his assistant missionaries, he started with Mrs. Judson on the long
+journey up the Irrawaddy to the capital.  But before they had proceeded
+far war broke out between England and Burma.  The Burmese were
+possessed of the belief that they were the greatest military power in
+the world, and, confident that they had nothing to fear from the
+English, encroached upon the possessions of the East India Company.
+Other acts of aggression followed, and the Company decided upon
+reprisals.  Several battles were fought on the frontier, and the
+Burmese under Bandoola won two or three victories.  Mr. and Mrs. Judson
+on their journey up the Irrawaddy met Bandoola proceeding in great
+state to take command of his army.  They were questioned by the Burmese
+general's men, but on explaining that they were not British subjects
+but Americans, and that they were proceeding to Ava by command of the
+king, they were allowed to continue their journey.
+
+On arriving at Ava the king and queen treated Mr. Judson very coldly,
+and did not enquire after Mrs. Judson, whom they had previously desired
+to see.  This was a discouraging beginning for their new work, but the
+Judsons settled down to it, praying that the war might soon be ended.
+But the end was far off.  On May 23, 1824, the news reached Ava that an
+English force had captured Rangoon.  It had apparently not occurred to
+the Burmese that the English might attack them elsewhere than on the
+frontier, and the news of their success filled them with amazement and
+indignation.  An army was despatched at once with orders to drive out
+the invaders.
+
+The king now became suspicious of Mr. Judson.  He knew that the
+missionary had declared that he was not a British subject, but America
+was a land of which he knew nothing.  The only white nations of which
+he had any knowledge were England and France, and he was under the
+impression that after the downfall of Napoleon the French had become
+British subjects.  His courtiers were equally suspicious of Mr. Judson,
+and one managed to discover that he had recently received some money
+from Bengal.  This money was a remittance from America which had been
+forwarded through a Bengal merchant, but the king and his advisers at
+once came to the conclusion that Mr. Judson was a spy in the employ of
+the English.
+
+An order for his arrest was issued immediately, and an officer,
+accompanied by a 'spotted face,' or public executioner, and a dozen men
+proceeded to the Judsons' house.  The 'spotted face' rushing in flung
+Mr. Judson to the ground and began to bind him.
+
+In terrible distress Mrs. Judson besought the officer to set her
+husband free, but all the notice he took of her was to have her
+secured.  When the ropes had been tightly bound around Mr. Judson the
+'spotted face' dragged him out of the house.  'Spotted faces' were
+almost invariably criminals who had been sentenced to the most degraded
+of duties--executing their fellow men.  So that they should not escape
+from the work to which they were condemned, small rings were tattoed on
+their cheeks, forehead and chin.  Loathed by all classes, the 'spotted
+faces' treated with great barbarity all who came professionally into
+their power.  The man who had bound Mr. Judson made the missionary's
+journey to the prison as uncomfortable as possible.  Every twenty or
+thirty yards he threw him to the ground, and dragged him along for a
+short distance with his face downwards.  On arriving at the prison
+allotted to men sentenced to death, Mr. Judson was fettered with iron
+chains and tied to a long pole, so that he could not move.
+
+Mrs. Judson was left at her home, with a number of soldiers outside to
+prevent her escaping.  But these men were not satisfied with keeping
+her prisoner; they added to her misery by taunting her, and threatening
+her with a horrible death.  For two days she endured this agony, but on
+the third she obtained permission to visit her husband.  Heavily
+fettered, Mr. Judson crawled to the prison door, but after they had
+spoken a few words the jailors roughly drove her away.  She had,
+however, seen enough of the prison to make it clear to her that her
+husband would die if he were not speedily removed from it.  By paying
+the jailors a sum of money she managed to get him removed to an open
+shed in the prison enclosure.  He was still fettered, but the shed was
+far healthier than the prison.
+
+Having attained this slight relief for her husband, Mrs. Judson now did
+all in her power to obtain his release.  She called in turn on the
+various members of the royal family and the high officials, assuring
+them that her husband had done nothing to deserve imprisonment, and
+asking for his release.  Many of the people were sympathetic, but none
+dared ask the king to set the missionary free, for his majesty was
+infuriated by the news which reached him, now and again, of the success
+of the invaders.
+
+At last, in the autumn, Bandoola arrived at Ava.  He had been summoned
+from the frontier to proceed towards Rangoon to drive out the British,
+and on arriving at Ava he was received with wild enthusiasm.  Even the
+king treated him with respect, and allowed him to have a free hand.
+Mrs. Judson, seeing Bandoola's power, determined to appeal to him for
+her husband's release.  She was given an audience, and after hearing
+her petition, Bandoola promised that he would consider the matter, and
+dismissed her with the command to come again to hear his decision.  The
+gracious manner in which she had been received filled Mrs. Judson with
+hope, but on calling for Bandoola's reply two days later she was
+received by his wife, who said that her husband was very busy preparing
+to start for Rangoon; as soon as he had driven out the English he would
+return and release all the prisoners.  It was a terrible
+disappointment, but Mrs. Judson did not break down, although her health
+was far from good.  She continued doing as she had done for many
+months, trudging two miles to the prison with her husband's food and
+walking back in the dark.  Every morning she feared to find that her
+husband had been murdered, for the news of the British successes
+continued to reach Ava, and the people were in a state of excitement,
+and continually vowing vengeance on the white _kalas_.  However, her
+worst fears were not realised.  Her husband remained in chains, but, as
+he was not treated very harshly, she began to hope that the Burmese
+would release him when the war was ended.
+
+But the end of the war was a long way off, and in the middle of
+February it became known that the English had quitted Rangoon and were
+marching to Ava.  Mr. Judson was immediately taken from his shed and
+flung into the common prison--one room occupied by over a hundred
+prisoners--loaded with five pairs of fetters.  It was the hot season,
+and Mr. and Mrs. Judson knew that he could not live long in that place.
+Indeed, he was quickly attacked with fever, and Mrs. Judson, growing
+desperate, so persistently implored the governor to allow her to remove
+him that at last he consented.  Mr. Judson was removed speedily to a
+small bamboo hut in the courtyard, where, made comfortable and nursed
+by his wife, he recovered.
+
+In the meanwhile Bandoola had been killed in action, and his successor
+appointed.  The latter was a man of fiendish tastes, and he decided
+before proceeding down the Irrawaddy to take up his command, to remove
+the prisoners from Ava, and have them tortured in his presence.  So Mr.
+Judson and two or three white traders were taken away to Amarapoora.
+Mrs. Judson was absent when her husband was removed, and when she
+returned and found him gone she feared that what she had been long
+dreading had happened--that her husband had been killed.  The governor
+and the jailors protested, untruthfully, that they did not know what
+had become of him; but at last Mrs. Judson discovered where he had been
+taken, and started off with her few months' old baby and her native
+nurse-girl to find him.
+
+Travelling first by river and then by bullock-cart, she arrived to find
+her husband in a pitiable state of health, caused by the ill-treatment
+he had received from his warders on the march from Ava.  He was in a
+high fever, his feet were terribly swollen, and his body covered with
+bruises.  Mrs. Judson obtained permission to nurse him, but on the same
+day her child and nurse-girl developed small-pox.  She nursed all three
+patients, and to her great joy they all recovered.  But the strain on
+her fever-weakened strength had been great, and she felt that her life
+was quickly drawing to a close.  But she bore up bravely, and journeyed
+to Ava to fetch her medicine chest.
+
+Neither she nor her husband knew of the intention of the Burmese
+general.  It was never carried out, for he was suspected of high
+treason, and promptly executed.
+
+Time passed, and the King of Burma becoming alarmed at the advance of
+the English towards his capital, sent his representatives to treat with
+them.  Mr. Judson accompanied them to act as interpreter.  He was not
+in fetters, but he was still a prisoner.  On his return he found that
+his wife had been again ill with fever, and had been delirious for many
+days.  But the prospect of peace being soon declared cheered the
+much-tried missionaries, and gave them fresh strength.
+
+The terms offered by the English general had been refused by the King
+of Burma; but when he found that the enemy would soon be at his capital
+he quickly agreed to them, and sent the first instalment of the
+indemnity down river to the victors.  Mr. Judson was sent with the
+Burmese officers to act as interpreter, and when the money had been
+handed over to the English he was set free, after having undergone
+twenty-one months' imprisonment, during seventeen of which he was in
+fetters.  That he had managed to live through that long imprisonment
+was due to his wife's bravery and devoted attention.  She had suffered
+more than he, and her constitution, ruined by fever, privation, and
+anxiety, was unable to withstand the illness which attacked her soon
+after she had settled down again to missionary work.
+
+She died on October 24, 1826, aged 37, and the husband whom she loved
+so dearly was not at her bedside.  He was acting as interpreter to the
+Governor-General of India's embassy to the court of Ava, and did not
+hear of her illness until she was dead.  The baby girl who had been
+born in the midst of sad surroundings only lived for a few months after
+her mother's death.
+
+
+
+[1] Foreigners
+
+
+
+
+SARAH JUDSON, PIONEER WOMAN IN BURMA
+
+The boy or the girl who does not at an early age announce what he or
+she intends to be when 'grown up,' must be a somewhat extraordinary
+child.  The peer's son horrifies his nurse by declaring that he intends
+to be an engine-driver when he is 'grown up,' and the postman's wife
+hears with not a little amusement that her boy has decided to be Lord
+Mayor of London.
+
+These early aspirations are rarely achieved, but there are some notable
+instances of children remaining true to their ambition and becoming, in
+time, what they had declared they would be.
+
+Sarah Hall, when quite a little child, announced her intention of
+becoming a missionary, and a missionary she eventually became.  She was
+born at Alstead, New Hampshire, in 1803, her parents being Ralph and
+Abiah Hall.  They were refined and well-educated, but by no means
+wealthy, and Sarah would have left school very young, had not the
+head-mistress, seeing that she was a clever child, retained her as
+pupil teacher.  Quiet, gentle, and caring little for the amusements of
+girls of her own age, her chief pleasure was in composing verse, much
+of which is still in existence.  The following lines are from her
+'Versification of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan,' which was
+written when she was thirteen years of age:--
+
+  The beauty of Israel for ever is fled,
+  And low lie the noble and strong:
+  Ye daughters of music, encircle the dead
+  And chant the funereal song.
+  Oh, never let Gath know their sorrowful doom,
+  Nor Askelon hear of their fate;
+  Their daughters would scoff while we lay in the tomb,
+  The relics of Israel's great.
+
+At an early age, as already stated, she expressed a wish to be a
+missionary to the heathen, and the wish grew stronger with increasing
+years.  But suddenly it became evident to her that there was plenty of
+work waiting for her close at hand.  'Sinners perishing all around me,'
+she wrote in her journal, 'and I almost panting to tell the far heathen
+of Christ!  Surely this is wrong.  I will no longer indulge the vain,
+foolish wish, but endeavour to be useful in the position where
+Providence has placed me.  I can pray for deluded idolaters and for
+those who labour among them, and this is a privilege indeed.'  She
+began at once to take an active part in local mission work; but while
+thus employed her interest in foreign missions did not diminish, and
+the death of the two young missionaries, Wheelock and Colman, who went
+to Burma to assist Mr. Judson, made a deep impression on her.
+Wheelock, while delirious from fever, jumped into the sea and was
+drowned, and Colman, after a time, died at Arracan from the effects of
+the unhealthy climate.  On hearing of Colman's death she wrote 'Lines
+on the death of Colman,' the first verse of which is:--
+
+  'Tis the voice of deep sorrow from India's shore,
+  The flower of our Churches is withered and dead,
+  The gem that shone brightly will sparkle no more,
+  And the tears of the Christian profusely are shed.
+  Two youths of Columbia, with hearts glowing warm,
+  Embarked on the billows far distant to rove,
+  To bear to the nations all wrapped in thick gloom,
+  The lamp of the Gospel--the message of love.
+  But Wheelock now slumbers beneath the cold wave
+  And Colman lies low in the dark, cheerless grave,
+        Mourn, daughters of India, mourn!
+  The rays of that star, clear and bright,
+  That so sweetly on Arracan shone,
+  Are shrouded in black clouds of night,
+  For Colman is gone!
+
+These lines were read by George Dana Boardman, a young man, twenty-four
+years of age, who had just been appointed to succeed Colman at Arracan.
+He obtained an introduction to Sarah Hall, and in a short time they
+became engaged.  They were married on July 3, 1825, and thirteen days
+later sailed for Calcutta, where they landed on December 2.  The war in
+Burma prevented their proceeding to Rangoon, so they settled down at
+Calcutta, to study the Burmese language with the aid of Mr. Judson's
+books.  At this they were engaged almost continuously until the spring
+of 1827, when they sailed for Amherst, in Tenasserim, a newly built
+town in the recently acquired British territory, to which Mr. Judson
+had removed with his converts soon after the conclusion of the war.
+
+The Boardmans' stay at Amherst was, however, short.  Towards the end of
+May they were transferred to another new city--Moulmein.  A year before
+their arrival the place had been a wide expanse of almost impenetrable
+jungle; now it had 20,000 inhabitants.  Wild beasts and deadly snakes
+abounded in the jungle around the city and, across the river, in the
+ruined city of Martaban, dwelt a horde of fiendish dacoits, who
+occasionally made a night raid on Moulmein, robbing and murdering, and
+then hurrying back to their stronghold.  The Boardmans had been settled
+in their bamboo hut barely a month when they received a visit from the
+dacoits.  One night Mr. Boardman awoke, to find that the little lamp
+which they always kept burning was not alight, and suspecting that
+something was wrong he jumped out of bed and lit it again.  The dacoits
+had entered, and stolen everything they could possibly carry off.
+Looking-glasses, watches, knives, forks, spoons, and keys had all
+disappeared.  Every box, trunk, and chest of drawers had been forced
+open, and nothing of any value remained in any of them.  This was the
+first home of their own that the Boardmans had ever had, and to be
+robbed so soon of practically everything they possessed was indeed
+hard.  They had, however, the satisfaction of knowing that the dacoits
+had not, as usual, accompanied robbery with murder.  But that the
+dacoits would have murdered them had they awoke while they were
+plundering was plain.  Two holes had been cut in the mosquito curtain
+near to where Mr. and Mrs. Boardman and their one-year-old child lay,
+and by these holes dacoits had evidently stood, knife in hand, ready to
+stab the sleepers if they awoke.  It was a great shock to Mrs.
+Boardman, who was in bad health, but soon she was joining her husband
+in thanking God for having protected them.
+
+After the robbery the officer commanding the British troops stationed
+two sepoys outside the mission house, and some idea of the dangers
+which surrounded the Boardmans may be formed from the fact that one day
+the sentry was attacked by a tiger.
+
+But, exposed as the Boardmans were to perils of this kind, they
+continued their work among the rapidly increasing population, and met
+with considerable success.  Many native Christians, converted under Mr.
+Judson at Rangoon, lived at Moulmein, and consequently the Boardmans'
+work was not entirely among the unconverted.  Indeed, before long
+nearly all the native Christians in Burma were residing at Moulmein,
+Amherst having declined in public favour.  When the majority of the
+inhabitants of Amherst migrated to Moulmein the missionaries
+accompanied them, and soon nearly all the missionaries to Burma were
+working in one city.  Neither the missionary board in America nor Mr.
+Judson considered this to be wise, and some of the missionaries were
+removed to other places, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman being sent to Tavoy,
+some 150 miles south of Moulmein.  The dialect of the people of Tavoy
+differed considerably from Burmese, and the Boardmans had practically
+to learn a new language.  As the written characters of both languages
+were the same, the task was not very difficult, and before long the
+missionaries were preaching the Gospel to the Tavoyans.
+
+Soon after they had settled down some Karens invited Mr. Boardman to
+visit them.  Their country was not far away, but the missionary could
+not as yet leave Tavoy.  The Karens, however, told him something that
+excited his curiosity.  A foreigner passing through the land had given
+them a book, and told them to worship it.  They had done so.  A
+high-priest had been appointed, and he had arranged a regular form of
+worship, Mr. Boardman asked the Karens to let him see the book, and
+they promised to bring it to him.  Soon a deputation, headed by the
+high-priest, attired in a fantastic dress of his own designing, arrived
+at Tavoy with the book, which was carefully wrapped up and carried in a
+basket.  On having the book handed to him Mr. Boardman saw that it was
+a Church of England Prayer-book.  He told the Karens that although it
+was a very good book it was not intended to be worshipped, and they
+consented to give it to him in exchange for some portions of Scripture
+in a language they could read.  It was never discovered who gave the
+Prayer-book to the Karens, but it may be taken for granted that they
+misunderstood the donor's meaning.  This book was afterwards sent home
+to the American Baptist Missionary Society.
+
+On July 8, 1829, Mrs. Boardman was plunged into grief by the death of
+her little daughter, aged two years and eight months.  Other troubles
+followed quickly.  One night Mrs. Boardman was awakened by hearing some
+native Christians shouting, 'Teacher, teacher, Tavoy rebels!'  The
+inhabitants of Tavoy had revolted against the British Government, and
+had attempted to seize the powder magazine and armoury.  The Sepoys had
+driven off the rebels, who were, however, far from being disheartened.
+They burst open the prison, set free the prisoners, and began firing on
+the mission house.  Bullets passed through the fragile little
+dwelling-place, and the Boardmans would soon have been killed had not
+some Sepoys fought their way to their assistance, with orders to remove
+them to Government House.  As Mrs. Boardman with her baby boy in her
+arms hurried through the howling mob of rebels she had several narrow
+escapes from being shot, but fortunately the whole of the little party
+from the mission house reached Government House in safety.  The
+Governor of Tavoy was away when the rebellion broke out, and as the
+steamer in which he had departed was the only means of rapid
+communication between Tavoy and Moulmein, the little British force
+settled down to act on the defensive until reinforcements arrived.
+Soon it was found that Government House would have to be evacuated, and
+eventually the British and Americans took shelter in a six-room house
+on the wharf.  In this small house the whole of the white population,
+the soldiers, and the native Christians were sheltered.  The rebels,
+strongly reinforced, attempted to burn them out, but a heavy downfall
+of rain extinguished the flames before much harm had been done.
+
+At last, to the great relief of the defenders, the governor's steamer
+was seen approaching.  The governor was considerably surprised to find
+the natives in revolt.  Immediately after his arrival he sent his wife
+and Mrs. Boardman aboard the steamer, which was to hurry to Moulmein
+for reinforcements.  Mrs. Boardman begged to be allowed to remain and
+share the danger which was threatening both the whites and the native
+converts, but the governor firmly refused to allow her to do so.
+
+As soon as the rebellion was quelled Mrs. Boardman returned to Tavoy
+and resumed her work, but troubles now came upon her quickly.  On
+December 2, 1830, her baby boy died, making the second child she had
+lost within twelve months.  Her husband, too, was in very weak health,
+although still working hard.  On March 7, 1831, he reported that he had
+baptized fifty-seven Karens within two months, and that other baptisms
+would soon follow.  But the latter he did not live to see, for he died
+of consumption three weeks after writing his report.
+
+The Europeans at Tavoy considered it natural and proper that, now Mrs.
+Boardman was a widow, she should, return to America, and they were
+somewhat surprised when she announced her intention of remaining at
+Tavoy.  'My beloved husband,' she wrote, 'wore out his life in this
+glorious cause; and that remembrance makes me more than even attached
+to the work and the people for whose salvation he laboured till death.'
+As far as possible she took up the duties of her late husband, and
+every day from sunrise until ten o'clock at night she was hard at work.
+Her duties included periodical visits to the Karen villages.  This was
+a most unpleasant work for a refined woman, and from the fact that she
+scarcely ever alluded to these visits we may conclude that she found
+them extremely trying.  But, as there was no man to undertake the work
+which her late husband had carried on with conspicuous success, she
+knew unless she did it herself a promising field of missionary
+enterprise would be uncared for.
+
+Preaching, teaching and visiting was not, however, the only work in
+which the young widow engaged.  She translated into Burmese the
+_Pilgrim's Progress_.
+
+Adoniram Judson and Mrs. Boardman had known each other from the day the
+latter arrived in Burma, and the former, as the head of the
+missionaries in that country, was well aware of Mrs. Boardman's
+devotion to duty.  On January 31, 1834, he completed his translation of
+the Scriptures, and on April 10 he and Mrs. Boardman were married.
+
+Mrs. Sarah Judson's home was now once more in Moulmein, and into the
+work there she threw herself at once heart and soul.  She superintended
+schools, held Bible classes and prayer meetings and started various
+societies for the spiritual and physical welfare of the women.  Finding
+that there was a large number of Peguans in Moulmein, she learnt their
+language, and translated into it several of her husband's tracts.
+
+Until 1841 her life was peacefully happy, but in that year a period of
+trouble began.  Her four children were attacked with whooping-cough,
+which was followed by dysentery, the complaint which in Burma has sent
+many thousands of Europeans to early graves.  No sooner had the
+children recovered from this distressing illness than Mrs. Sarah Judson
+fell ill with it, and for a time it was feared that she was dying.  As
+soon as she was able to travel Mr. Judson took her to India, in the
+hope that a complete rest at Serampore would give her back her
+strength.  She returned in fairly good health, but in December, 1844,
+she grew so weak that Mr. Judson decided to have his first furlough,
+and take her home to America.  On the voyage she grew worse, and died
+peacefully while the ship was at anchor at St. Helena.  She was buried
+on shore, and Adoniram Judson, a widower a second time, proceeded on
+his journey to America.
+
+
+
+
+OLIVIA OGREN AND AN ESCAPE FROM BOXERS
+
+The Chinese dislike to foreigners settling in their country is so old
+that one cannot tell when it began.  But in 1900 the Boxer rising
+proved that the anti-foreign feeling is strong as ever, and perhaps
+more unreasonable, and the whole civilized world was horror-stricken by
+the news of the massacre of men, women and children, who had been
+slaughtered, not only because they were Christians, but because they
+were foreigners.
+
+The list of missionaries who were murdered by the Boxers in 1900 is
+long and saddening; but it is some consolation to know that to many of
+the martyrs death came swiftly, and was not preceded by bodily torture.
+In fact, some of the missionaries who escaped death must have been
+sorely tempted to envy their martyred colleagues, so terrible were the
+trials they underwent before reaching a place of safety.
+
+Mrs. Ogren was one of the representatives of the China Inland Mission,
+who escaped death only to meet perils and privations such as few women
+have ever survived.  She and her husband had worked in China for seven
+years, and had been stationed for about twelve months in the city of
+Yung-ning when the Boxer troubles began.  Until then the natives had
+been well disposed towards them, but two emissaries of the Boxers,
+describing themselves as merchants, spread evil reports concerning
+them.  They declared that the missionaries had poisoned the wells, and
+when the people went to examine them they found that the water had
+turned red.  The men who accused the missionaries had, before bringing
+this charge against them, secretly coloured the water.  Other false
+accusations, artfully supported by what appeared to be conclusive
+evidence, were made against them, and naturally aroused the anger of
+the people, whose demeanour became unmistakably threatening.
+
+On July 5 the sad news of the murder of two lady missionaries at
+Hsiao-i reached Mrs. Ogren and her husband, and a mandarin, who had
+secretly remained friendly towards them, urged them to escape from the
+city as soon as possible, and for their travelling expenses the
+secretary of the yamen brought them, in the middle of the night, Tls.
+10 (L15).  Mr. Ogren gave a receipt for the money, and prepared for
+their flight, but it was not until July 13 that they were able to start.
+
+Early in the morning, before day-break, a mule-litter was brought to
+the back door of the mission garden.  Quickly and silently Mr. and Mrs.
+Ogren, with their little nine months' old boy, mounted, and started on
+their perilous journey to Han-kow.
+
+They arrived uninjured at the Yellow River, where, however, they found
+a famine-stricken crowd, armed with clubs, eager to kill them.  The
+starving natives had been told, and believed, that the scarcity of food
+was due to the foreigners' presence in China, and their hostile
+attitude can scarcely be wondered at.  However, the guard which had
+been sent to protect the missionaries succeeded in keeping off the
+people, who had to content themselves with yelling and spitting at the
+fugitives.  Hiring a boat, for which they had to pay Tls. 50, the
+Ogrens and their guard started down river for T'ung-kuan.  The current
+of this river is exceedingly swift, and the missionaries expected every
+moment that their boat would be wrecked.  No mishap occurred, however,
+and after travelling seventeen miles the party made a halt.  It was
+necessary to do so, as at this place they were to be handed over to a
+new guard.  Here, too, they found it would be impossible to proceed on
+their journey without more money, and a messenger was despatched to the
+mandarin at Yung-ning, asking for a further loan.  Until the result of
+this appeal was known there was nothing for the Ogrens to do but wait
+where they were.  It was an anxious time, but on the fourth day they
+were delighted to see the secretary of the yamen approaching.  He had
+brought with him the money they required.
+
+'Praising God for all His goodness,' Mrs. Ogren writes in her account
+of their trials,[1] 'we started once more, and though beset by many
+difficulties, the goodness of God, and the cordial letter of
+recommendation granted us by our friendly mandarin, enabled us to
+safely reach a place called Lung-wan-chan, 170 miles from our
+starting-place, and half way to our destination, T'ung-kuan.'
+
+At Lung-wan-chan they heard of the rapid spread of the Boxer movement,
+and of the massacre, on July 16, of a party of men and women
+missionaries.  They realised now that the prospect of their escaping
+the fury of the Boxers was small; but there came a ray of hope, when a
+Chinaman, eighty years of age and a friend of the Yung-ning mandarin,
+offered to hide them in his house.  It was an offer which was
+gratefully accepted; but as they were about to start for their
+hiding-place, which was some twenty-five miles from the river, a party
+of soldiers arrived.  Their orders were, they said, to drive the
+foreigners out of the province; but the aged Chinaman gave them a
+feast, and, having got them into a good humour, extracted a promise
+from them that they would not harm the missionaries.  But although they
+kept their promise to the extent of not doing them any bodily injury,
+they took from them all the money they possessed.
+
+When the soldiers had departed, the Ogrens started on their twenty-five
+miles' journey to the friendly old Chinaman's house, thankful at having
+escaped one danger, and hopeful that they would reach their destination
+in safety.  But their hope was not realised.  Before they had gone far,
+their way lay along a track where it was necessary to proceed in single
+file.  Mrs. Ogren, riding a mule, led the way; a second mule carrying
+their personal belongings followed, and Mr. Ogren with their baby-boy
+in his arms came last.  On one side of them was the rushing river; on
+the other, steep, rocky mountains.
+
+Suddenly a number of armed men sprang out from behind the rocks and
+barred their way.  Brandishing their weapons ominously, they demanded
+Tls. 300.  Mrs. Ogren, dismounting from her mule, advanced to a man who
+appeared to be the leader, and told him that they had no money.  She
+begged him to have pity on them, and to spare her at least her baby's
+things.  Her appeal was not entirely wasted, for while they were
+helping themselves to their things the leader handed her, on the point
+of his sword, _one_ of the baby's shirts.
+
+Having taken everything that they fancied, the robbers now looked
+threateningly at the prisoners.  Their leader began whetting his sword,
+shouting as he did so, 'Kill, kill!'  Again Mrs. Ogren pleaded for
+mercy, and finally they relented, and departed without injuring them.
+
+The fugitives now came to the conclusion that it would be certain death
+if they remained in the province, and as soon as possible they crossed
+the river in the ferry.  It was a dark, wet night when they reached the
+other side, and it was only after much entreaty and promises of reward
+that the ferrymen allowed them to take shelter in the dirty smoky caves
+where they lived.  Mr. Ogren at once despatched a message to their old
+Chinese friend asking for help, and four days later the man returned
+with some money, nearly the whole of which the ferrymen claimed, and
+obtained by means of threats.  With little money in their pockets, the
+Ogrens started off on foot towards the promised place of refuge.  It
+was a trying journey, for the heat was intense, and aroused a thirst
+which could not be quenched.  Once Mrs. Ogren fell exhausted to the
+ground; but after a rest they continued their tramp, and on the second
+day reached their destination, there to experience a bitter
+disappointment.  The people whom they expected would be friendly proved
+hostile.  They refused to give them food, and only after much entreaty
+did they permit them to take shelter in a cave near by.  This, however,
+proved to be a very insecure hiding-place, and twice they were robbed
+by gangs of men.
+
+Leaving this place, the Ogrens tramped further into the hills, and
+found another cave, where they could have remained in safety until the
+rising was quelled, had they been able to obtain food.  Mrs. Ogren and
+her husband would have endured the agony of long-continued hunger, but
+they could not see their little baby starve.  For some time he was fed
+on cold water and raw rice, but when their small stock of the latter
+ran out, they tramped back to make another appeal to the people who had
+so recently refused to help them.  Their reception was even worse than
+on the previous occasion.  One of the men had heard of the Boxers'
+offer of Tls. 100 for the head of every foreigner brought to them, and
+was anxious to earn the money.  Seizing his sword, he rushed at the
+fugitives and would have killed them, had not some of his relatives,
+perhaps moved by pity, intervened.  They held him fast while the Ogrens
+hurried away as quickly as their weakness would permit.
+
+Over the mountains they wended their way, sometimes having to crawl up
+the steep hillsides.  It was their intention to make their way back to
+Yung-ning, and seek protection from the mandarin who had always been
+friendly towards them.  It must not be forgotten that during the
+anti-foreign outbreak there were hundreds of Chinamen, besides the
+Christian converts, who, although well aware that a price was placed on
+the head of every foreigner, scorned to betray them, and did all in
+their power to facilitate their escape to a place of safety.  On their
+journey over the mountains, Mrs. Ogren and her husband met with many of
+these people, who gave them food and sheltered them at night.
+
+Having forded a wide, swiftly-flowing river, the Ogrens came to a
+village where the natives treated them so kindly that they remained
+there for two days.  But on departing from this place their brief
+period of comparative happiness came to an end, for, towards night, as
+they drew near to a village, hoping to experience a repetition of the
+hospitality they had recently received, they found that they were
+likely to have a hostile reception.
+
+It was too late to turn back or to attempt to avoid the place, for they
+had already been discovered, so they trudged on through the village,
+the people laughing and jeering at them.  But just as they were
+quitting the village, hopeful that they would be permitted to continue
+their journey unmolested, they were seized and cast into prison.  The
+following morning two men were told off to take them out of the
+province; but it soon became evident to the prisoners that their escort
+intended to hand them over to the Boxers.  They were a particularly
+heartless pair, and one of them took from Mrs. Ogren her baby's pillow,
+which she had managed to retain through all their wanderings, and
+emptying out the feathers burned them.
+
+The following day they arrived at the Yellow River, and as they crossed
+in the ferry the prisoners saw that the village to which they were
+being taken was decorated with red lanterns.  This was a sign that the
+place was held by the Red Lantern Society, one of the divisions of the
+Boxer army.  On landing, the missionaries were at once surrounded by a
+crowd of jeering natives, and one fellow, with brutal glee, told Mrs.
+Ogren of the massacre of the lady missionaries at Ta-ning.
+
+After Mr. Ogren had been closely questioned, he was told they would be
+taken back to Yung-ning, but when they left the village they found that
+they were being led in quite a different direction.  At night they were
+placed in a cave, and on the following morning were marched off to the
+Boxer general's headquarters, a temple.  Mr. Ogren was at once taken
+before the general, Mrs. Ogren sitting in the courtyard with her baby
+on her knee.  She was suffering excruciating pain from a swollen eye,
+caused by the heat and glare, but her mental agony was no doubt
+greater, for in a few minutes her husband's fate would be decided.  She
+heard him answering the general's questions, heard him pleading for
+their lives.  Soon his voice was drowned in the sound of swords being
+sharpened, and a few minutes later she heard moans.  Her husband was
+being tortured.
+
+'My feelings were indescribable,' Mrs. Ogren writes.  'I could only
+pray God to cut short my husband's sufferings, and fill his heart with
+peace, and give me courage to meet my lot without fear.'  Soon the
+moaning ceased, and she concluded that her husband was dead.
+
+That night Mrs. Ogren was imprisoned in a tomb, and her baby, although
+he had nothing but water for his supper, slept soundly on the cold
+ground wrapped up in her gown.  On the following morning she was given
+some rice and porridge, but before she had finished her meal the guard
+set her free.  At once she decided to endeavour to reach Ta-ning, where
+other missionaries were imprisoned, preferring imprisonment among
+friends to the wandering life she had led for so long.  Hearing that
+there were some Christians in a village on the other side of the river,
+she forded the stream--narrowly escaping drowning, but only to find
+that she had been misinformed.  The villagers jeered at her when she
+told her story, and asked for food for herself and baby.  Departing
+from these inhospitable people, Mrs. Ogren lay down with her baby in
+the open.  Both were hungry and shivering, and probably their trials
+would have ended that night in death, had not two native Christians
+found them, and led the way to a cave.  Taking Mrs. Ogren to this place
+of shelter was, however, all that these men could do for her.
+
+The following day, while trudging along towards Ta-ning Mrs. Ogren was
+again captured by Boxers, and would have been promptly killed, had not
+the headman of the village protected her, and, in spite of the anger of
+the mob, appointed an escort to accompany her to Ta-ning.  It was a
+consolation to Mrs. Ogren to feel that she would soon be in the company
+of fellow missionaries; but to her sorrow she heard, on being placed in
+the Ta-ning prison, that they had been set free two days previously,
+and had started for the coast.
+
+The prison in which Mrs. Ogren was now confined was a filthy place,
+swarming with vermin, but the warders were kind to her, and gave her
+food for herself and baby.  Even the mandarin was moved when he heard
+of the sufferings she had undergone, but he did not release her.  Sleep
+was impossible that night, but, at daybreak, as Mrs. Ogren lay dozing
+with her child beside her, she fancied she heard her name called.
+Jumping up she ran into the courtyard, and looked eagerly around.
+
+'Olivia!'  It was her husband's voice, and there at the prison gate
+stood he whom she had thought dead.  'Praise God! oh, praise God!' she
+cried, her heart full of thankfulness; but he was too overcome with
+emotion to speak.  Truly Mr. Ogren was in a terrible plight.  His
+clothes hung in rags, and his head was bound with a piece of dirty,
+blood-stained linen.  One of his ears was crushed, and there were
+ghastly wounds in his neck and shoulders.  Even now he was not out of
+danger for as he stood at the gate Mrs. Ogren saw to her dismay a mob
+of infuriated Boxers rushing towards him, and it seemed as if he would
+be killed before her eyes.  But the yamen servants protected him, and,
+later in the day, he was brought to his wife and child.  The people had
+evidently taken pity on the poor missionaries, for they supplied Mrs.
+Ogren with some water to wash her husband's wounds and a powder that
+would heal them.  Moreover they supplied them with rice and mutton, and
+the secretary of the yamen's wife sent them a bowl of meat soup.
+
+When Mr. Ogren's wounds had been dressed, and he had eaten the first
+good meal he had tasted for many days, he related to his wife all that
+had happened to him since they were separated by the Red Lantern Boxers.
+
+Briefly his story was as follows:--On being taken before the Boxer
+general he was bound to a block of wood, with his hands tied behind his
+back, and while in this helpless state the Boxers kicked him and beat
+him with sticks, cursing the name of Jesus, and shouting, 'Now ask your
+Jesus to deliver you.'  After thus torturing him they untied him from
+the block, and led him with his hands bound behind his back to the
+river-side, with the intention of killing him and casting his body into
+the water.  Arriving there, they forced him down on his knees, and at a
+signal set upon him on all sides with swords and spears; but in their
+eagerness to slay him their weapons struck one against another, and
+instead of being killed instantly he received several wounds, which
+although severe did not disable him.
+
+Suddenly he sprang to his feet, and rushing through the crowd jumped
+into the river.  The Boxers, recovering from their surprise, rushed
+into the water after him, but remembering that his hands were tied
+behind his back they broke into jeering laughter, and waited to see him
+drown.  But the brave, persecuted missionary managed to reach the other
+side in safety, and running inland was soon lost in the darkness.  With
+his hands tied behind his back, and barefooted--his shoes were lost in
+the river--he tramped some fifteen miles before resting.  Then he
+severed the cords which bound his hands by rubbing them against a rock
+until they were cut through.  In the hills he found a native Christian,
+who not only supplied him with food, water and a little money, but took
+him to a hiding-place for the night.  On the following morning Mr.
+Ogren started off again, with the intention of making his way back to
+Yung-ning, but before he had gone far he caught sight of Boxers
+scouring the country.  Finding a cave he hid in it throughout the day,
+resuming his journey at night.  After many hardships he met some
+natives, who informed him that his wife was in prison at Ta-ning, and
+at once he set off for that city, and entered it unnoticed by the
+Boxers.  It was only when he had almost reached the yamen that they
+heard of his presence and rushed after him.  How he escaped their fury
+has already been told.
+
+Two days after Mr. Ogren had rejoined his wife the authorities sent
+them with an escort out of the city on two donkeys, the men who
+accompanied them being instructed to take them from city to city until
+they arrived at the coast.  But on the second day the officials of a
+city through which they would have to pass warned them that they would
+not be allowed to enter it, and therefore the much-tried missionaries
+were taken back to Ta-ning, and placed once more in the loathsome
+prison.  Here Mrs. Ogren endured fresh trials.  Her baby, weakened by
+exposure and semi-starvation, became seriously ill, and for a time it
+seemed as if he would not recover.  When, however, the danger was
+passed Mrs. Ogren's second eye became terribly inflamed and caused her
+intense agony, and her husband becoming delirious with fever, had to be
+tied down to his bed.  Nevertheless, she did not lose her faith, and
+the prisoners, aware of all she had endured, and was enduring,
+marvelled to see her praying to God.  When, in the course of a few
+days, her husband began to gain strength they sang hymns, prayed, and
+read the Bible together.
+
+A month later the Ogrens were told that in two days they were to be
+escorted to the coast, and the comforts which were at once provided for
+them made it clear that the authorities had received instructions to
+protect them and treat them well.  New clothes were given them, and
+when they started on their journey, Mr. Ogren, being far too weak to
+ride, was carried with the baby in a sedan chair.  Mrs. Ogren rode a
+horse.  The officer and ten soldiers who comprised their escort treated
+them kindly, and their example was copied by the inhabitants of the
+villages through which they passed.
+
+It was a welcome change, but it came too late.  Nine days after leaving
+Ta-ning Mr. Ogren became very weak, and in spite of every attention
+died on the following morning, October 15, from the effects of the
+cruelty to which the Boxers had subjected him.
+
+Can anyone imagine a more crushing sorrow for a woman than this which
+Mrs. Ogren had to bear?  To lose her husband just when their long
+months of persecution were ended, and they were looking forward to
+happy days of peace, was indeed the hardest blow she had suffered.  Her
+escort, touched to the heart by this sad ending to her troubles, did
+all that they could to comfort her.
+
+It was not until February 16, that Mrs. Ogren and her two children--a
+girl baby, healthy in every way, had been born at P'ing-yang-fu on
+December 6,--arrived at Han-kow, where everyone strove to show kindness
+to the much-tried widow.  Peter Alfred Ogren's name is inscribed on the
+roll of Christian martyrs, and Olivia Ogren is a name that will ever
+stand high in the list of Christian heroines.
+
+
+
+[1] _Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the
+China Inland Mission_.  (Morgan & Scott.)
+
+
+
+
+EDITH NATHAN, MAY NATHAN AND MARY HEAYSMAN,
+
+MARTYRED BY BOXERS
+
+When, in the year 1900, the anti-foreign feeling in China culminated in
+the massacre of defenceless men and women, the three missionaries whose
+names head this chapter were working in the city of Ta-ning.  The
+inhabitants of this little city among the hills had always treated the
+missionaries with kindness, and it was not until Boxer emissaries
+arrived and stirred up the people by spreading untruths concerning the
+reason of the foreigners' presence in China, that a change occurred in
+the behaviour of some of them.
+
+The news of the Boxer rising was soon carried to the three ladies at
+Ta-ning; but it was not until July 12 that, at the earnest entreaty of
+the native pastor, Chang Chi-pen, they left the city to take shelter in
+one of the villages high up in the mountains.  They started at 7.30 in
+the morning, and, travelling through the heat of the day, arrived at
+Muh-ien, where they were welcomed by the inhabitants, both native
+Christians and unconverted, with kindness.  The knowledge that two lady
+missionaries had recently been murdered at Hsiao-i made the inhabitants
+of this hill-village anxious to show kindness to the three ladies who
+had come to seek shelter among them.  They gave them food, which
+although not very palatable to Europeans was the best to be had, and
+provided them with lodging.
+
+The following day was passed peacefully.  Native friends came out from
+Ta-ning, bringing the comforting assurance that there were no signs of
+the Boxers coming in pursuit of the fugitives.  They told the
+missionaries that eighteen warships belonging to various nations had
+arrived, but had gone aground near Fuh-Kien.  The news of the arrival
+of these vessels naturally caused satisfaction to the three
+missionaries, and made them believe that the Boxer rising would soon be
+quelled.
+
+Sunday, July 15, was a very happy day.  Native Christians came in from
+the neighbouring villages, and the old pastor, Chang Chi-pen, had
+stolen out from Ta-ning.  A service was held, and afterwards the
+missionaries were overwhelmed with invitations to take up their
+residence in various villages where they would be, they were assured,
+perfectly safe from the Boxers.  'It was really worth while being in
+such a position, to see how loyal the Christians were to us,' May
+Nathan wrote in her diary.[1]  'We are certainly in a better position
+than most other foreigners, being amongst such simple, loyal,
+God-fearing men.'
+
+The following morning, soon after breakfast and prayers, a boy arrived
+from Ta-ning with the unpleasant news that 500 soldiers, who were in
+sympathy with the Boxers, had entered the city.  The inhabitants at
+once urged the ladies to flee to a more distant village, and, taking up
+their Bibles, the missionaries started off quickly, with a native
+Christian for their guide.  Rain fell heavily, and they arrived at
+their destination, Tong-men, wet to the skin.  Food was given them, and
+in the afternoon they lay down and slept in a shed full of straw.  The
+natives were determined, however, that they should have a better place
+in which to pass the night, and prepared a cave for them, spreading
+clean mats on the brick beds.  But, late in the afternoon, a Christian,
+whom the missionaries had sent to Ta-ning to obtain information
+concerning the movements of the soldiers, returned with the pleasing
+news that there were none in the city, nor had any been there.
+Thankful that the alarm had been a false one, the three missionaries,
+one feeling somewhat unwell, trudged back to the Muh-ien, and refreshed
+themselves with tea.  Throughout the day, or rather from breakfast
+until their return after dark, they had drunk nothing, tea, strange to
+say, being an unknown luxury in the place where they had sought
+temporary shelter.
+
+On the following day soldiers did enter Ta-ning, but as an official
+despatch arrived almost at the same time instructing the yamen to
+protect foreigners, the three ladies decided not to remove from
+Muh-ien.  This proclamation, a copy of which was brought to the
+missionaries, stated that all foreigners who remained quietly at their
+stations would be unmolested, and was a great improvement on the
+previous one, which ordered that foreigners were to be exterminated.
+The arrival of the allied forces had of course made the Chinese deem it
+advisable to withdraw the former proclamation.
+
+Nothing occurred during the next two days to make the missionaries
+think that they were in immediate danger of being massacred.  They
+spent the time in reading, sewing and talking to the sympathetic people
+who called on them.  But on the third day they received the sad
+information that seven of their missionary friends had been murdered on
+July 16.
+
+'Oh, it is sad, sad,' May Nathan wrote in her diary, 'such valuable
+lives; and who will be the next?  Perhaps we shall, for why should we
+be spared when, for my own part, I know that the lives of those who
+have gone were so much more valuable than mine?  I don't want to die,
+and such a death; but if it comes, well, it will be for a little, and
+after, no more sorrow--no pain.  Day by day we are without knowledge of
+what news may come!  Darling mother, don't be anxious whatever news you
+may hear of me.  It will be useless in the eyes of the world to come
+out here for a year, to be just getting on with the language and then
+to be cut off.  Many will say, 'Why did she go?  Wasted life!'
+Darling, _No_.  Trust; God does His very best, and never makes
+mistakes.  There are promises in the Word that the Lord will save His
+servants, and deliver them from the hands of evil men.  Dear, it may be
+the deliverances will come through death, and His hands will receive,
+not the corruptible, but the incorruptible, glorified spirit.'
+
+Early the following morning, just as they were about to begin
+breakfast, a friendly Chinaman arrived, with the warning, that a party
+of Boxers was coming up the mountains and searching everywhere on the
+way for them.  Instant departure was imperative, so, snatching up their
+Bibles and a few biscuits, they hurried off higher up the mountains,
+halting only for a few minutes among some native Christians, to deliver
+three short prayers.  Their Christian guide hurried them onward when
+the last prayer was finished, and soon they were climbing up steep,
+unfrequented sheep-paths.  A ruined temple on the top of a mountain was
+to be their hiding-place, and when they reached it, tired out, they lay
+down on the ground with stones for their pillows.
+
+How long they remained hiding in this mountain-top temple is unknown.
+Nor, as the last entry in May Nathan's letter is dated July 23, do we
+know the sufferings which they underwent during the next three weeks.
+All that is certain is that, after wandering about the mountains, they
+were captured by the Boxers on August 12, and dragged to a temple near
+Lu-kia-yao, where, hungry and thirsty, they were compelled to spend the
+night surrounded by a mob of fiends.  At day-break they were brought
+out and killed.
+
+
+
+[1] _Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the
+China Inland Mission_.  Edited by Marshall Broomhall.  (Morgan and
+Scott.)
+
+
+
+
+MARY RIGGS AND THE SIOUX RISING
+
+Of all the stories that have been written for young people none have
+been more popular than those describing adventures among the Red
+Indians of North America.  Fenimore Cooper's books have delighted many
+generations of readers; but on much of the ground where that author's
+famous characters lived, hunted, fought and died, big towns have sprung
+up, and the Indians, driven to live in reservations and to become,
+practically, pensioners of the Government, have been shorn of nearly
+all their greatness.
+
+When the white man gained the ascendency in North America there came a
+better opportunity for missionary work, and notable among those who
+went to labour among the Indians was Mary Riggs, who, with her husband,
+worked for thirty-two years among the Sioux--the Red Indians of Dakota.
+She was born on November 10, 1813, at Hawley, Massachusetts, her father
+being General Thomas Longley, who had fought in the war of 1812.
+Evidently he was not a wealthy man, for Mary began her education at the
+common town school, where she had for her schoolfellows the children of
+some of the poorest inhabitants.  Later, she attended better schools,
+and at the age of sixteen became a teacher in one at Williamstown,
+Massachusetts.  Her salary was only one dollar a week, but she gave her
+father the whole of her first quarter's earnings, as a slight return
+for the money he had spent on her education.  After a time she obtained
+a better appointment at a school at Bethlehem, and while there she met
+Stephen R. Riggs, a young man who was studying for the Presbyterian
+ministry.  They became engaged, and a few months later Stephen Riggs
+told his future wife that he should like to become a missionary to the
+Red Indians, among whom work had recently been started.  She expressed
+her willingness to accompany him, and, therefore, he at once offered
+himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by
+whom he was accepted.
+
+The young people were married on February 16, 1837, and about a
+fortnight later began their long journey to the Far West.  Travelling
+was in those days, of course, very different from what it is now, and
+the young missionaries had to go by stage _via_ New York, Philadelphia,
+and across the mountains to Pittsburg until they came to the Ohio.
+Snow, rain and mud made their journey by stage particularly unpleasant,
+but rest and comfort came on the steamer which bore them down the river.
+
+On June 1, 1837, they arrived at Fort Snelling, near where the
+Minnesota joins the Mississippi.  Here they remained until the
+beginning of September, living in a log-house, and learning the Dakota
+language with the help of a missionary who had been in the field for
+three years.  From Fort Snelling they departed on September 5, 1837,
+for their destination Lac-qui-parle, travelling with two one-ox carts
+and a double wagon.  On September 18 they arrived at the station to
+which they had been appointed, and received a hearty welcome from the
+two missionaries who had settled there some time before at the earnest
+request of a Lac-qui-parle trader.  Lac-qui-parle was a small place, a
+mere collection of buffalo-skin tents, in which lived some 400 Red
+Indians.  Mr. and Mrs. Riggs found a home in a log-house belonging to
+one of the other missionaries.  Only one room could be spared them, and
+although it was but 10 feet wide and 18 feet long they made themselves
+comfortable.  Mr. Riggs wrote as follows in his account of their work
+among the Sioux[1]: 'This room we made our home for five winters.
+There were some hardships about such close quarters, but, all in all,
+Mary and I never enjoyed five winters better than those spent in that
+upper room.  There our first three children were born.  There we worked
+in acquiring the language.  There we received our Dakota visitors.
+There I wrote, and re-wrote, my ever-growing dictionary.  And there,
+with what help I could obtain, I prepared for the printer the greater
+portion of the New Testament in the Dakota language.  It was a
+consecrated room.'
+
+When Mrs. Riggs and her husband took possession of their one-room home
+they had much difficulty in making it comfortable, as they had been
+unable to bring on their furniture and domestic utensils.  One person,
+however, lent them a kettle, another provided them with a pan, and bit
+by bit they collected the most necessary articles.
+
+In the East missionaries have never experienced a difficulty in
+obtaining servants, but in Dakota neither male nor female Sioux would
+enter the Riggs' service.  Consequently Mrs. Riggs had to perform all
+the household duties.  They bought a cow, but neither of them knew how
+to milk her.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Rigg tried to perform the task, but not
+until the cow had experienced considerable discomfort did Mrs. Riggs
+become acquainted with the art.  Washing clothes was a performance
+which filled the Sioux women with wonder, for they were in the habit of
+wearing their garments unwashed until they became too old to be worn
+any longer.  Very soon they adopted the white woman's custom, and,
+becoming fond of standing over the washing-tub, they took to washing
+Mrs. Riggs' clothes as well as their own.  For doing so they were, of
+course, paid.
+
+The missionaries who had preceded the Riggs at Lac-qui-parle had not
+been very successful, if success be judged by the number of converts
+made.  The native Church consisted of seven people, but before the
+Riggs had been there many months nine were added.  Most of these were
+women, and it was they, and not the men, who assisted in the building
+of the first church at Lac-qui-parle.
+
+When Mr. and Mrs. Riggs had worked for some time with success at
+Lac-qui-parle they removed to a new station--Traverse des Sioux.  But
+four years later the news reached them that since their departure from
+Lac-qui-parle there had been a sad falling back into heathenism among
+the converts, and they hurried back to their old station.  Backsliders
+were reclaimed, and the missionary work carried on with increased
+energy.
+
+But the missionaries had much to contend with.  The Indians were hard
+pressed for food, and occasionally shot the mission cattle.  Grog shops
+had been opened in the neighbourhood, and many of the Sioux bought
+drink when they should have purchased provisions.  Excited by the
+fire-water, the Indians were frequently riotous, and, although they
+never assaulted the missionaries, it was clear that they might massacre
+them.  On one occasion Mrs. Riggs had a very unpleasant experience.
+While her husband was away, twenty-six Sioux warriors paraded in front
+of mission house and fired their guns in the air.  Mrs. Riggs was
+naturally somewhat frightened, until she found that they were not bent
+on murder and scalping.  They had been searching for some Chippewas,
+but, having failed to find them, they fired their guns for practice.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Riggs continued their work with but few interruptions
+until 1862, when the Sioux rising occurred.  It began in this way.  The
+Sioux had assembled at Yellow Medicine to receive their annual
+allowance from the Government official.  While distributing the
+allowance the official announced that the Great Father (President
+Lincoln) was anxious to make them all very happy, and would therefore
+give them, very shortly, a bonus.  The Indians, having recently
+suffered greatly from want of provisions, were delighted at the
+prospect of an additional grant, and waited in the vicinity of the
+agency for its arrival.  When it arrived the Sioux found to their
+dismay that it was a paltry gift of $2.50 a man.  Their disgust and
+anger were increased by the knowledge that during the time they had
+been waiting for this insignificant present they could have earned from
+$50 to $100 by hunting.  Unintentionally, a Government servant added
+fuel to the fire, and the Sioux, maddened, began their terrible
+massacre of the scattered settlers.
+
+The news of the rising was carried quickly to the Riggs by friendly
+Indians, who urged them to hurry away as quickly as possible to a place
+of safety.  But the missionaries were not disposed to consider the
+rising serious.  The seizure of their horses and cows, and various
+other unfriendly actions performed by the people among whom they had
+lived for many years, soon, however, convinced them that it would be
+wise to depart.  So gathering together a few belongings the little band
+of missionaries, some carrying children, crept away by night to an
+island in the Minnesota River.  But on the following day the friendly
+Indians sent word to them that they were not safe on the island, and
+urged further flight.
+
+Acting on this advice, the Christians waded the river and started on a
+tramp to the Hawk River, and on the way met other settlers, hurrying
+like themselves, to escape from the infuriated Sioux.  Joining forces
+they proceeded on their journey, the women and children riding in two
+open carts, and soon met a wounded man, whom they tenderly lifted into
+one of the wagons.  He was the sole survivor of a band of settlers
+which had been attacked by the Sioux.
+
+Keeping a sharp look-out for the Indians, the fugitives continued their
+journey across the prairie.  On the second night the rain fell heavily,
+and as the women and children could obtain no shelter in the open carts
+they crept under them.  Wet and shivering, the fugitives found, when
+daylight came, that they had scarcely any food.  Wood was collected, a
+fire built, and one of the animals killed and roasted.
+
+A day later they were espied by an Indian, who fortunately proved to be
+friendly.  He advised the fugitives to hurry to Fort Ridgely, and
+assured them that all the whites, with the exception of themselves, who
+had not taken shelter in the fort had been killed.  Acting on his
+advice, they proceeded in the direction of the fort, but travelled very
+cautiously, for there were signs that Indians were in the neighbourhood.
+
+One of the fugitives crept into the fort, but the news he brought back
+to his comrades in distress was not cheering; the fort was already
+overcrowded with women and children, and there was a very small force
+of soldiers to defend it.  For five days they had been continually
+attacked by the enemy, and unless reinforcements arrived quickly the
+fort would probably be captured.
+
+The Riggs and their fellow fugitives decided, therefore, to hurry on to
+some other place, fully aware of the danger they were running in
+travelling through a neighbourhood which abounded with the
+scalp-seeking Indians.  One of Mary Riggs' daughters wrote of this
+period in their flight: 'Every voice was hushed, except to give
+necessary orders; every eye swept the hills and valleys around; every
+ear was intensely strained for the faintest sound, expecting
+momentarily to hear the unearthly war-whoop, and see dusky forms with
+gleaming tomahawks uplifted.'
+
+[Illustration: EVERY EAR WAS STRAINED ... EXPECTING MOMENTARILY TO HEAR
+THE UNEARTHLY WAR-HOOP.]
+
+Hour after hour the tired and footsore fugitives trudged on without
+being discovered.  Then four of their number, believing the danger was
+passed, bade adieu to the remainder of the party and proceeded in a
+different direction; but before they had gone far they were killed by
+the Indians.  The Riggs and their party heard the fatal shots, but the
+tragedy was hidden from their sight by the bush.  Fortunately, the
+proximity of the larger party of fugitives was not discovered by the
+Sioux; and at last, after a long, weary journey, the Riggs and their
+friends arrived at the town of Henderson, where their appearance
+occasioned considerable surprise, as their names had been included in
+the list of massacred.
+
+Over a thousand settlers were killed during the rising, and there were
+many people who escaped death, but never recovered completely from the
+horrors of that terrible time.  Mary Riggs returned with her husband to
+the work among the Sioux; but her health grew slowly worse, and when,
+in March, 1869, an ordinary cold developed into pneumonia she had not
+the strength to battle against it.  She died on March 22, 1869, in
+Beloit, Wisconsin, worn out with her thirty-two years' work in the
+mission-field.
+
+
+
+[1] _Mary and I; Forty Years with the Sioux_.  By Stephen R. Riggs.
+Philadelphia, 1887.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF WOMEN IN WAR-TIME
+
+
+
+MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND
+
+Florence Nightingales's noble work among the sick and wounded in the
+Crimean War is known to everyone; but very few people are aware that
+there was another woman, working apart from Miss Nightingale, who
+performed deeds of bravery and humanity in the same campaign which
+entitle her to a high place in any list of brave and good women.  Sir
+William Russell, the famous war correspondent of the _Times_, wrote, in
+1858, of Mary Seacole: 'I have witnessed her devotion and her courage;
+I have already borne testimony to her services to all who needed them.
+She is the first who has redeemed the name of 'sutler' from the
+suspicion of worthlessness, mercenary business and plunder; and I trust
+that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out
+her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices
+for some other illustrious dead.'  England seems to have forgotten her,
+but it is hoped that this account of her life may help to remove the
+reproach.
+
+Mary Seacole was born at Kingston, Jamaica, her father being a
+Scotchman and her mother a native.  The latter kept a boarding-house
+which was patronised chiefly by naval and military officers stationed
+at Kingston, but she was also widely known in the West Indies as a
+"doctoress."  Officers, their wives and children were her chief
+patients, and she is reputed to have healed many troublesome complaints
+with medicines made from the plants which she herself gathered.  Mary
+inherited her mother's tastes, and when quite a child decided to become
+a "doctoress."  She bandaged her dolls in the way she had seen her
+mother bandage patients, and on growing older she doctored any stray
+dogs and cats who could be prevailed upon to swallow the medicine she
+had made.  After a time she became anxious to try her skill upon human
+beings, but as no one would consent to take her medicine, she drank it
+herself, happily without any serious effects.
+
+When Mary Seacole (as she afterwards became) was about twelve years of
+age her mother began to allow her to assist in waiting upon the invalid
+officers staying at the boarding-house, and whilst thus engaged she was
+able to obtain a knowledge of nursing which was of the greatest value
+in after years.  While still a girl she paid a visit to England, and
+remained there, with some relatives, for some months.  She visited
+England again a few years later, and saw that there was a good opening
+in London for West Indian commodities.  Therefore, on her return, she
+exported guava jelly, pickles and various preserves, and being anxious
+to add to the variety of her wares, she visited the Bahamas, Hayti and
+Cuba, to inspect the productions of those places.
+
+On returning from her travels among the islands she settled down again
+to nurse her mother's invalid boarders, and before long married one of
+them, a Mr. Seacole.  Her married life was, however, short for Mr.
+Seacole died a few months after the wedding.  A little later her mother
+passed away, and Mary Seacole was left without relatives in Jamaica.
+She continued to manage the boarding-house; but her generosity to the
+poor was so unlimited that when she had a bad season she was without
+money to support herself.  However, she struggled on until her
+boarding-house was once more filled with well-paying invalids.  But in
+1843 she had a very serious loss; her house was burnt in a fire which
+destroyed a large portion of Kingston.  The boarding-house was,
+however, rebuilt, and prosperity returned.  Many a white man asked her
+to become his wife, but she refused every offer, and devoted all her
+spare time to the task of adding to her store of medical knowledge.
+Several naval and military surgeons, surprised to find that her
+knowledge of medical matters was, for a woman, great, assisted her with
+her studies.
+
+In 1850 cholera broke out in Jamaica, and raged for a greater portion
+of the year, and a doctor who was living at Mary Seacole's house gave
+her many valuable hints concerning the treatment of cholera cases.
+Before long the knowledge thus obtained proved to be the means of
+saving many lives.
+
+Shortly after the cholera had ceased to rage in Jamaica Mary Seacole
+proceeded on a visit to her brother, who owned a large, prosperous
+store at Cruces in California.  On arriving there, she found the place
+crowded with a mixed mob of gold-diggers and speculators, some
+proceeding to the gold-fields, others returning.  The men returning
+were drinking, gambling and "treating" those who were bound for the
+gold-fields.  It was a degrading sight, and Mary Seacole wished that
+she had not left Jamaica.  There was nowhere for her to sleep, wash or
+change her travel-stained clothes, for every room in her brother's
+house was engaged by the homeward-bound gold-diggers.  Until they
+departed she had to manage to exist without a bed.
+
+These parties of miners arrived at Cruces weekly, and the scenes of
+dissipation were the same on each occasion.
+
+Quarrels which ended in the death of one of the combatants were
+frequent and little noticed, but the very sudden death of a Spaniard
+who resided at Cruces caused great excitement.  He had dined with Mary
+Seacole's brother, and on returning home was taken ill and suddenly
+died.  Suspicion fell upon Mary Seacole's brother, and it was said
+openly that he had poisoned the man.  Mary Seacole, indignant at the
+accusation brought against her brother, went to see the body, and knew
+at once that the man had died from cholera.  No one believed her, but
+the following morning a friend of the dead man was taken ill with the
+same disorder, and the people who had scoffed at her became
+terror-stricken.
+
+There was no doctor at Cruces, and Mary Seacole set herself to battle
+single-handed with the plague.  Fortunately, she never travelled
+without her medicine-chest, and taking from it the remedies which had
+been used in Jamaica with great success she hurried to the sick man's
+bedside, and by her promptitude was able, under God, to save his life.
+Two more men were stricken down and successfully treated, and Mary
+Seacole was beginning to hope that the plague would not spread, when a
+score of cases broke out in one day.  The people were now helpless from
+terror, and Mary Seacole was the only person who did not lose her
+presence of mind.  Day and night she was attending patients, and for
+days she never had more than a hour's rest at a time.  Whenever a
+person was stricken, the demand was for 'the yellow woman from
+Jamaica,' and it was never made in vain.
+
+When the cholera had been raging for some days, Mary Seacole despatched
+a messenger to bring a medical man to the place; but the Spaniard who
+arrived in response to the summons was horror-stricken at the terrible
+scenes, and incapable of rendering any assistance.  Mary Seacole was
+compelled, therefore, to continue her noble work unaided.
+
+One evening she had just settled down to a brief rest when a mule-owner
+came and implored her to come at once to his kraal, as several of his
+men had been attacked with cholera.  Now Mary Seacole had been visiting
+patients throughout the day and the previous night, but without the
+slightest hesitation she went out into the rain and made her way to the
+sick muleteers, whom she found in a veritable plague-spot.  Men and
+mules were all in one room, and the stench was so great that a feeling
+of sickness came over her as she stood at the door.  But with an effort
+she overcame the feeling, and entering flung open the windows, doors
+and shutters.  Then, as the much-needed fresh air poured in, she looked
+around.
+
+Two men she saw at once were dying, but there were others whom she
+thought there was a possibility of saving, and these she attended to at
+once.  For many hours she remained in this strangely crowded room, and
+when she did quit it she only went away for an hour's sleep.  On her
+return to the plague-spot she found fresh patients awaiting her, one, a
+little baby, who in spite of her efforts died.  Everything was against
+Mary Seacole in this pestilential stable, but nevertheless she was the
+means of saving some lives.
+
+At length, when the plague was dying out, the brave woman who had so
+nobly fought the disease was herself stricken with it, but happily for
+the British army she recovered.
+
+Throughout the plague Mary Seacole had treated rich and poor alike.
+The centless man and the down-trodden muleteer received as much
+attention from her as the wealthy diggers returning home with their
+bags of gold dust.  The latter paid her liberally for having tended
+them, but the majority of her patients had nothing but thanks to give
+her.  Possibly she appreciated the latter most, for some of her rich
+patients seemed to think that having rewarded her they had wiped out
+the debt of gratitude.
+
+On June 4 some of her wealthy patients gave a dinner party, and invited
+Mary Seacole to be present.  One speaker proposed her health, and after
+referring to her having saved their lives continued in the following
+strain: 'Well, gentlemen, I expect there are only two things we are
+vexed for.  The first is that she ain't one of us--a citizen of the
+great United States; and the other thing is, gentlemen, that Providence
+made her a yellow woman.  I calculate, gentlemen, that you're all as
+vexed as I am that she's not wholly white, but I do reckon on your
+rejoicing with me that she's so many shades removed from being entirely
+black; and I guess if we could bleach her by any means we would, and
+thus make her as acceptable in any company as she deserves to be.
+Gentlemen, I give you Aunty Seacole.'
+
+Mary Seacole's reply to this ill-mannered speech was as follows:
+'Gentlemen, I return you my best thanks for your kindness in drinking
+my health.  As for what I have done in Cruces, Providence evidently
+made me to be useful, and I can't help it.  But I must say that I don't
+appreciate your friend's kind wishes with respect to my complexion.  If
+it had been as dark as any nigger's, I should have been just as happy
+and as useful, and as much respected by those whose respect I value;
+and as to the offer of bleaching me, I should, even if it were
+practicable, decline it without any thanks.  As to the society which
+the process might gain me admission into, all I can say is, that,
+judging from the specimens I have met here and elsewhere, I don't think
+that I shall lose much by being excluded from it.  So, gentlemen, I
+drink to you, and the general reformation of American manners.'
+
+In 1853 Mary Seacole returned to Jamaica, and before she had been there
+many weeks yellow fever broke out.  It was the worst outbreak that had
+occurred for many years, and soon Mary Seacole's boarding-house was
+full of patients, chiefly officers, their wives and children.  In
+nursing her boarders, and procuring proper food for them, Mary Seacole
+had more work than most women would care to undertake; but when the
+military authorities asked her to organise a start of nurses to attend
+to the men in Up-Park Camp, Kingston, she set to work on this
+additional task, and, carrying it out with her customary thoroughness,
+rendered a great service to the army.
+
+After the yellow fever had subsided Mary Seacole sold her
+boarding-house, and opened a store in New Granada, where she speedily
+obtained popularity because of her medical skill.  On war being
+declared against Russia, she determined to go to the Crimea to nurse
+the sick and wounded, and started for London as quickly as possible,
+arriving there soon after the news of the battle of Alma had been
+received.  She had anticipated no difficulty in getting sent to the
+front, as there were many officers who could testify to her nursing
+abilities; but she found on arriving in London that every regiment to
+whom she was known had been sent to the Crimea.  However, as the news
+of the sufferings of our men at the front had reached London, and the
+necessity of nurses being sent out was recognised, she imagined that
+her services would be promptly accepted.
+
+Soon she found, greatly to her sorrow, that the colour of her skin was
+considered, in official circles, a barrier to her employment.  She
+applied in turn at the War Office, the Quartermaster General's
+Department, the Medical Department, and the Crimea Fund, but at each
+place some polite excuse was made for declining her services.  It was
+indeed a foolish act on the part of the officials.  Nurses were sorely
+needed, and here was Mary Seacole, who had far greater experience of
+nursing British soldiers than any woman living, refused employment.
+She declared in her little book of adventures,[1] published soon after
+the war ended, that at her last rebuff she cried as she walked along
+the street.
+
+But Mary Seacole's determination to proceed to the Crimea was not
+shaken by her inability to prevail upon the authorities to accept her
+services, and after consideration she decided to go to the front at her
+own expense.  She had sufficient money to pay her passage to Balaclava,
+and to support her for some months after her arrival, but not enough to
+enable her also to supply herself with the medical outfit necessary for
+work at the seat of war.  The only way in which she could hope to be in
+a position to help the sick and wounded was by earning money in the
+Crimea, and therefore she decided to start an hotel at Balaclava for
+invalid officers.  By the next mail she sent out to the officers who
+had known her at Jamaica a notice that she would shortly arrive at
+Balaclava, and establish an hotel with comfortable quarters for sick
+and convalescent officers.
+
+While Mary Seacole was making preparations for her departure she met a
+shipper named Day, who, hearing of her plans, offered to enter into
+partnership with her in the proposed hotel.  This offer she accepted,
+as with a partner she would be able to devote more time to the wounded.
+
+At Malta Mary Seacole found herself once more among people who knew and
+appreciated her.  Some medical officers who had been stationed at
+Kingston were among those who welcomed her, and believing that Florence
+Nightingale would be glad of her help, gave her a letter of
+introduction to that noble Englishwoman.  Having made arrangements for
+her work in the Crimea, Mary Seacole had now no desire to become
+attached to any nursing staff, but she accepted the letter of
+introduction, as she was anxious to make the acquaintance of Florence
+Nightingale, who was then at the barracks at Scutari, a suburb of
+Constantinople, which were being used as a hospital for British troops.
+
+When Mary Seacole arrived at Scutari, Florence Nightingale was too busy
+to grant her an interview immediately, so she spent the period of
+waiting in inspecting the wards.  As she passed along, many of the
+invalid soldiers recognised her and called to her.  Some of them she
+had nursed in Jamaica, and the sight of her kindly brown face filled
+them with recollections of happy days in the West Indies.  To every man
+who recognised her she said a few cheering words, and in several cases
+rearranged bandages which had slipped.  While thus engaged, an officer
+entered the ward, and was about to reprimand her, when he saw, much to
+his surprise, that she was as skilful as any doctor or nurse in the
+hospital.  When she had finished her self-imposed task, he thanked her
+for her thoughtful kindness.
+
+At last Mary Seacole saw Florence Nightingale, whom she describes in
+these words: 'A slight figure, in the nurse's dress, with a pale,
+gentle, and withal firm face, resting lightly on the palm of one white
+hand, while the other supports the elbow--a position which gives to her
+countenance a keen, enquiring expression which is very marked.
+Standing thus in repose, and yet keenly observant, was Florence
+Nightingale--that Englishwoman whose name shall never die, but sound
+like music on the lips of British men until the hour of doom.'
+
+Naturally Florence Nightingale was interested in the woman who came to
+her warmly recommended by British medical officers, and made many
+enquiries concerning her intentions.  On the following morning Mary
+Seacole resumed her journey, but these two good women met several times
+before the war was ended.
+
+On arriving at Balaclava Mary Seacole received hearty welcome from the
+troops.  Men who had been stationed in Jamaica told their comrades of
+her bravery and kindness, and everyone hailed her as a great friend.
+Many officers, including a general and that gallant Christian, Captain
+Hedley Vicars, met her as she landed, and expressed their thanks to her
+for coming to the Crimea.
+
+Mary Seacole was soon at work among the wounded, assisting the doctors
+to transfer them from the ambulances to the transports.  While engaged
+in this work, on the day after her arrival, she noticed a wounded man
+who was evidently in great pain, and saw at once that his bandages were
+stiff, and hurting him.  Having rearranged them she gave the poor
+fellow some tea, and as she placed it to his lips his hand touched
+hers.  'Ha!' he exclaimed, too weak even to open his eyes, 'this is
+surely a woman's hand.  God bless you, woman, whoever you are!  God
+bless you!'
+
+A few days later, as she was busy at her usual work of attending to the
+sick and wounded, the Admiral of the Port placed his hand on her
+shoulder, and said earnestly, 'I am glad to see you here among these
+poor fellows.'  A day or two before--when she had made some enquiries
+concerning the landing of her stores--this admiral had declared
+brusquely that they did not want a parcel of women in the place.  When
+at last Mary Seacole's stores were put ashore, she started business in
+a rough little hut, made of tarpaulin, on which was displayed the name
+of the firm--Seacole and Day.  The soldiers, however, considered that
+as Mary Seacole's skin was dark, a better name for the firm was Day and
+Martin, and as such it was generally known.
+
+Towards the end of the summer, Seacole and Day's British Hotel was
+opened at Spring Hill.  It had cost L800 to build, and was an excellent
+place for sick officers to rest.  Adjoining the hotel, and belonging to
+the same proprietors, was a store at which could be purchased creature
+comforts and useful articles.  At first the store was opened every day
+of the week.  Mary Seacole had a strong dislike to opening it on
+Sunday, but the requirements of the soldiers made it almost a
+necessity.  After a time, when the most pressing needs of the men had
+been met, she gave notice that the store would be closed on Sundays,
+and this rule she refused to alter, in spite of being constantly urged
+to do so.
+
+Many officers, instead of going into hospital when ill, became boarders
+at Mary Seacole's, and among these was a naval lieutenant who was a
+cousin of Queen Victoria.  These officers she doctored and nursed with
+her customary skill, and for every vacancy in her hotel there were
+half-a-dozen applicants.
+
+One day it became known in camp, that among the things which Mary
+Seacole had received from a recently arrived ship was a young pig,
+which she intended to fatten and kill.  Immediately she was overwhelmed
+with orders for a leg of pork, and if the pig had possessed a hundred
+legs she could have sold every one of them.  An officer to whom she did
+eventually promise a leg of pork was so anxious that there should be no
+mistake about the matter, that he made the following memorandum of the
+transaction:--'That Mrs. Seacole did this day, in the presence of Major
+A-- and Lieutenant W--, promise Captain H--, a leg of _the_ pig.'
+
+Every portion of the pig was sold long before the animal was fit to be
+killed, and then the purchasers began to fear that it would be stolen.
+Everybody took an interest in tins pig, and it was considered the
+correct thing for every soldier who passed the sty to assure himself
+that the animal was still there.  One day two officers, coming off
+duty, galloped up to the hotel and shouted excitedly, 'Mrs. Seacole!
+Quick, quick, the pig's gone!'  It was not a false alarm; the pig had
+been stolen.  As, however, the nest in the sty was warm, it was evident
+that the pig had only recently been taken, and a party of officers
+started in pursuit of the thieves, shouting laughingly as they rode
+off, 'Stole away!  Hark away!'  The thieves, two Greeks, were quickly
+overtaken, and the precious pig was brought back in triumph to Mary
+Seacole.
+
+It must not be thought that Mary Seacole devoted herself entirely to
+the officers, for her best work was done among the privates on the
+battlefield.  Sir William Russell bore testimony to her courage and
+humanity.  'I have seen her,' he wrote, 'go down under fire, with her
+little store of creature comforts for our wounded men; and a more
+tender or skilful hand about a wound or broken limb could not be found
+among our best surgeons.  I saw her at the assault on the Redan, at the
+Tchernaya, at the fall of Sebastopol, laden, not with plunder, good old
+soul! but with wine, bandages, and food for the wounded or the
+prisoners.'
+
+The Inspector-General of Hospitals praised her work, and the
+Adjutant-General of the British Army wrote on July 1, 1856:--'Mrs.
+Seacole was with the British Army in the Crimea from February, 1855, to
+this time.  This excellent woman has frequently exerted herself in the
+most praiseworthy manner in attending wounded men, even in positions of
+great danger, and in assisting sick soldiers by all means in her power.'
+
+From officers who could afford to pay for her medicine or wine she
+accepted payment, but a man's need, and not his ability to pay, was her
+first thought.  On the battle-field she gave strengthening food to
+wounded privates which she could easily have sold, at a large profit,
+to the officers.
+
+Regardless of the danger she was running--she had many narrow escapes
+from shot and shell--she bandaged the wounded, administered
+restoratives to the unconscious, and prayed with the dying.  Scores of
+dying men gave her messages for their loved ones at home, and these she
+despatched as speedily as possible.  She saw many an old friend laid to
+his last rest, and among these was Hedley Vicars, with whom she had
+been associated in much good work in Jamaica.
+
+Mary Seacole was known to have a very poor opinion of our French ally,
+but a wounded Frenchman received as much attention from her as an
+Englishman.  The enemy, too, had good cause to bless her, for many a
+wounded Russian would have died on the battle-field but for her skilful
+and prompt aid.  One Russian officer, whose wounds she bandaged and
+whom she helped to lift into the ambulance, was greatly distressed at
+being unable to express his thanks in a language which she understood.
+Taking a valuable ring from his finger, he placed it in her hand,
+kissing her hand as he did so, and smiled his thanks.
+
+Mary Seacole continued her noble work until the war ended.  But her
+generosity to the sick and wounded had been a great strain upon her
+finances, as the whole of her share of the profits in the firm of
+Seacole and Day, and much of her capital, had been spent on her
+charitable work.  And, to make matters worse, when the British troops
+had departed from the Crimea, the firm had to dispose of its stock at
+one-tenth of the cost price.  Proceeding to England, Seacole and Day
+started business at Aldershot, but after a few months the partnership
+was dissolved, and Mary Seacole found herself almost penniless.  But as
+soon as her unfortunate position became known, friends hastened to
+assist her.  _Punch_ recorded some of her good deeds in verse, and made
+a humorous appeal on her behalf.
+
+The red-coats did, at _Punch's_ invitation, 'lend a willing hand;' for,
+although all ranks were sorry to hear of Mary Seacole's misfortune,
+they were glad to have an opportunity to prove to her that they had not
+forgotten her noble work in the Crimea.  Subscriptions to the fund that
+was started for her benefit poured in, and a sufficient sum was
+received to enable her to spend the regaining years of her life in
+comfort.
+
+
+
+[1] _The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole_.  Edited by W. J. S.
+
+
+
+
+LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE
+
+Many years ago, when His Majesty King Edward VII. was in Canada, he
+paid a visit to Mrs. Laura Secord, a very old and revered Canadian
+lady.  The news of the visit of the Prince of Wales (for such, of
+course, His Majesty then was), and the present which he afterwards
+bestowed upon her, was heard with pleasure throughout Canada, for Laura
+Secord is a heroine of whom the Canadians are justly very proud.
+
+The brave deed for which she is famed is here told:
+
+On June 18, 1812, the United States of America declared war against
+Great Britain.  The conquest of Canada was the object President Madison
+had in view, and he was confident that he would achieve it with little
+difficulty.  Truly he had good reasons for his confidence.  In the
+whole of Canada there were less than 4500 regular troops, and it was
+known that Napoleon's activity in Europe would prevent the British
+Government from sending out reinforcements.
+
+Naturally, the news that America had declared war filled the Canadians
+with dismay; but this feeling was quickly succeeded by a determination
+to repel the invaders, or die in the attempt.  The call to arms was
+sounded throughout the country, and an army composed of farmers,
+fur-traders, clerks, artisans, French Canadians, Red Indians, and negro
+slaves was soon formed.
+
+Among the white men who volunteered was James Secord, who had married
+Laura Ingersoll, the daughter of a sturdy loyalist who quitted the
+United States, after the War of Independence, to live under the British
+flag in Canada.  Mr. and Mrs. Secord were living at Queenston, on the
+banks of the Niagara River, when the war broke out, and it was at
+Queenston that a fierce battle was fought, four months later.
+
+About two o'clock in the morning of October 13 the British discovered
+that the Americans had crossed the river under cover of darkness, and
+that some were already scaling the cliffs at various points.  A fierce
+fire was opened upon the invaders on the beach, who concealed
+themselves behind the rocks and fired whenever they saw an opportunity.
+The American losses were great, and it appeared as if they would either
+have to surrender or be annihilated, when suddenly a volley was poured
+into the rear of the British.
+
+Unseen by the defenders, a body of Americans had scaled the cliffs, and
+taken up a strong position above the British, who were now between two
+fires.  The British general--Brock--was mortally wounded, and for a few
+moments his men stood aghast.  Then the cry, 'Avenge Brock!' was
+raised, and with a cheer the British force advanced to drive out the
+invaders.
+
+A terrible hand-to-hand fight ensued, and slowly but surely the
+Americans were driven to the edge of the cliff.  Several hundred
+surrendered, and many more might have been taken prisoners but for the
+fact that the Indians had got beyond control, and refused to give
+quarters to their hated foe.  Seizing men who were willing to
+surrender, they hurled them from the cliff into the water below.
+Scores of Americans, fearing the vengeance of the Indians, jumped from
+the cliff and were drowned, and many others fought stubbornly until
+they reached the brink and fell backwards.  A terribly sanguinary fight
+had resulted in a victory for the British; but it had been dearly
+bought.  The British general was dead, and the battle-field was strewn
+with the bodies of brave volunteers who had died in defence of their
+homes and liberty.
+
+Before the last of the invaders had surrendered or been killed, Laura
+Secord was on the battlefield searching for her husband.  She found
+Captain Secord's men, but he was not with them, and not one of them
+knew where he was.  In the hand-to-hand fight they had lost sight of
+their captain, but they pointed out to the distressed lady the spot
+where they had fought.
+
+Hither Laura Secord hurried, and where the dead and dying lay thick she
+found her husband terribly wounded.  Falling on her knees beside him,
+she called him by name, but he gave no sign that he heard her.
+Believing him to be dead, she cried bitterly, and taking him up in her
+arms carried him to their house.  Then as she laid him down she found
+to her great joy that he still breathed.
+
+By her tender nursing she saved his life, although his recovery was
+very slow.  Winter and spring passed, and summer came, and Captain
+Secord was still an invalid and unable to walk.  It was a great trial
+to him to be kept to the house, fur another American force had landed
+at Queenston, and occupied the town and neighbourhood.  It had been
+impossible to remove Captain Secord when the other Canadians retired,
+and thus he and his wife were left in the midst of the Americans.  But,
+as it turned out, it was a happy thing for the British that he was too
+ill to be removed.
+
+One day, towards the end of June, some American officers entered the
+Secords' house, and commanded Laura to give them food.  She did so, and
+while waiting on them listened to all they said.  Of course she did not
+let them see that she was taking an interest in their conversation, and
+succeeded in making them believe that she was a very simple and
+unintelligent person.  Imagining that she would not understand what
+they were saying, they began to discuss their general's plans, and
+unwittingly revealed to her the fact that a surprise attack was to be
+made on the British force.  When the officers, having eaten a hearty
+meal, departed, Laura Secord repeated to her husband all that they had
+said.
+
+Captain Secord was at a loss what to do.  The British would have to be
+warned of the attack, but who could he get to pass the American pickets
+and carry a message through twenty miles of bush?  Never before had he
+felt so keenly his helpless condition.
+
+But his despair was short-lived, for his wife declared that she would
+carry the news to the British general.  Quickly she told him her plans,
+and although it seemed to him that there was little prospect of her
+being able to carry them out, he did not attempt to dissuade her from
+the undertaking.
+
+At daybreak the following morning Laura Secord, disguised as a
+farm-maid, quitted the house bare-footed and bare-legged, and walked
+straight to the cow to milk her.  But she had scarcely begun her task
+when the cow kicked over the milking pail and ran forward towards the
+bush.  The American soldiers laughed heartily at the mishap, but
+ignoring them Laura Secord picked up her stool and pail and ran after
+the cow.  Her second attempt to milk her ended in the same way--the cow
+kicked over the pail and frisked a few yards nearer to the bush.  To
+the delight of the soldiers this performance was repeated several
+times, and chasing the cow Laura Secord passed the pickets and entered
+the bush.  The Americans saw her make another and equally unsuccessful
+attempt at milking.  Soon cow and milk-maid were lost to sight.  Again
+Laura Secord approached the cow and began to milk her, and this time
+the animal stood quietly.
+
+The pinch which Laura Secord had given the cow on the previous
+occasions was not repeated, and the milking could soon have been
+finished, had the brave woman time to spare.  Sitting on her stool, she
+peered in the direction whence she came and listened.  Convinced that
+the soldiers had not had their suspicions aroused, she sprang up and
+leaving cow, pail and stool, started on her long journey.
+
+Hour after hour she pressed forward, fearful that at any moment she
+might come face to face with the enemy's scouts.  Nor was this the only
+danger she had to fear.  The bush was infested with venomous snakes,
+and on several occasions she found one lying in her path.  Sometimes
+she succeeded in frightening away the reptile, but frequently she was
+compelled to make a detour to avoid it.  Her feet and legs were torn
+and bleeding, but still she plodded on, across hill and dale, through
+swamp and stream.
+
+When night came she was still wearily trudging along, but uncertain
+whether she was proceeding in the right direction.  Again and again she
+fell to the ground, and would have lain there, but for the knowledge
+that the lives of hundreds of her countrymen would be lost if she did
+not reach the British lines quickly.  This thought spurred her on.
+
+Exhausted, bleeding and hungry, she continued her journey, praying to
+God to give her strength to reach her destination.
+
+Hours passed, and at length she became so exhausted that her hope of
+reaching the British grew faint.  She felt that if she fell again she
+would not have the strength to rise.  Then suddenly the air was filled
+with the war-whoop of the Red Indians, and a score of the dreaded
+savages sprang from their hiding-places and surrounded her.
+
+Indians were fighting for the Americans as well as for the British, and
+the atrocities which they perpetrated made the war of 1812 one of the
+most bitter, most unchivalrous, that had been waged between civilized
+nations for many years.  Believing her captors to be allies of the
+Americans, Laura Secord felt that her last hour had come, but imagine
+her joy when, a few moments later she discovered that they were scouts
+of the British force.
+
+Quickly she was carried to the British lines, and at her own request
+was taken at once to the officer in command, whom she told of the
+impending attack.  After praising Laura Secord for her bravery, and
+ordering that her wants should be attended to immediately, the officer
+proceeded to make use of the information she had brought him; and so
+well did he lay his plans, and so quickly were they carried out, that
+the Americans, instead of surprising the British, were themselves
+surprised, and every man in the force captured.
+
+
+
+
+LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE.
+
+During the Great Rebellion many brave deeds were performed by women.
+Royalists and Parliamentarians each had their heroines, and we can
+honour them all, irrespective of party, for their devotion to the cause
+which they had espoused, and rejoice in the fact that they were British
+women.
+
+Lady Bankes was a woman whom Roundheads as well as Cavaliers admitted
+to be a noble specimen of an English lady.  She was the wife of the
+Right Honourable Sir John Bankes, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and
+a member of His Majesty's Privy Council.
+
+When it began to appear that the differences between King Charles and
+his Parliament would be settled by arms, Lady Bankes retired with her
+children to Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire.  Sir John was on circuit at
+the time, but it was soon discovered that he had supplied the king with
+money to carry on war against his Parliament, and for this reason he
+became a marked man.  He was not, however, a Royalist who hoped to keep
+his appointment by concealing his opinions from the Roundheads.  At the
+Salisbury assizes he made his charge to the grand jury an opportunity
+for denouncing as guilty of high treason several peers who had taken up
+arms against the king.  For this Parliament denounced him as a traitor,
+and declared his property forfeited.
+
+No attempt was, however, made to seize Corfe Castle until May 1643,
+when all the other castles in the neighbourhood having been captured,
+it was the only one held by a Royalist.  The Parliamentary army was
+well aware that Sir John Bankes was not at the castle, and that Lady
+Bankes had a very small force of servants to protect her, and
+consequently it was, for some time, not considered necessary to capture
+it.  It was believed that Lady Bankes, shut up in her own castle, was
+powerless to harm Cromwell's army.  But, eventually, it was decided
+that it was unwise not to interfere with a place that was notoriously a
+Royalist possession, and it was decided to capture it.
+
+The day fixed for the event was the first of May.  On that day it was
+the custom of the gentlemen of Corfe Castle to hunt a stag on the
+island, and any one who liked to do so might participate in the sport.
+The Roundheads decided to attend the hunt, seize the men from the
+castle, and then capture the castle itself.  But the arrival of an
+exceptionally large number of people to attend the hunt aroused the
+suspicions of the few Royalists, who quickly withdrew to the castle and
+gave instructions that the gates were to be kept shut against anyone
+seeking admission.
+
+Having failed to capture the Royalists in the hunting-field, the rebels
+came to the castle, and pretending that they were peaceable country
+folk, craved permission to be allowed to see the interior.  The
+permission was refused, and some of the soldiers, angry at the failure
+of the plot, forgot the part they were playing, and threatened to
+return and gain admission by force.  The officers, anxious not to
+arouse Lady Bankes's suspicions, loudly reprimanded their men for
+making foolish threats, and assured her ladyship that they had no
+intention of doing as their men had vowed.
+
+Lady Bankes did not, however, believe the rebel officers, and,
+convinced that an attack would shortly be made on the castle, she
+prepared to defend it.  She had no Royalist troops whatever in the
+castle, and her first step, therefore, was to call in a number of men
+whom she could rely upon.  But no sooner were the men instructed in
+their duties than the rebels demanded that the four small guns which
+were mounted on the wall should be given up.
+
+Lady Bankes refused to surrender them, and some days later forty seamen
+came and demanded them.  Now at that hour Lady Bankes had only five men
+in the castle, but pretending that she had a large garrison, she
+refused the seamen's demand, and caused one of the guns to be fired
+over their heads.  The report of this gun, which only carried a
+three-pound ball, so alarmed the seamen that they fled in dismay.  They
+must have been very different from the men who sailed under Blake, and
+made the Commonwealth's navy world-famed.
+
+No sooner had the timorous seamen fled than Lady Bankes summoned to the
+castle all her tenants and friendly neighbours, to assist her to hold
+the place until her husband should return.  They came in quickly, many
+bringing arms, and vowed to fight for her and King Charles; but the
+Roundheads, discovering who had entered the castle, went to the homes
+of these men, and told their wives that unless their husbands returned
+home their houses would be burned to the ground.  The frightened wives
+thereupon made their way to the castle and implored their husbands to
+return.  Some of the men did as their wives desired, but others would
+not break the promise they had made to the mistress of Corfe Castle.
+
+The enemy now decided to starve out Lady Bankes, and threatened to kill
+anyone caught conveying food to the castle.  This measure was
+effective, for Lady Bankes, being without sufficient food and
+ammunition to withstand a siege, agreed to deliver up the guns, on the
+condition that she should remain in possession of the castle unmolested.
+
+Lady Bankes had, however, little confidence in the honour of the
+attacking party, and felt assured that they would before long, in spite
+of their promise, endeavour to take possession of the castle.  This was
+made evident by the behaviour of the soldiers, who, although they did
+not enter the castle, did not hesitate to boast that it belonged to
+them, and that they would take possession of it whenever it was
+required.  But Lady Bankes was determined that it should not, if she
+could possibly prevent it, fall into the hands of the enemy.  Therefore
+she gave instructions that the men appointed to watch the castle should
+be supplied liberally with food and drink, with the result that they
+neglected to do their duty, and allowed Lady Bankes to smuggle in
+sufficient provisions and ammunition to withstand a long siege.
+Moreover, Lady Bankes despatched a messenger to Prince Maurice, asking
+him to send a force to help her hold the castle against the enemy, and
+in reply to her appeal Captain Lawrence and some eighty men arrived
+upon the scene.
+
+The Parliamentarians had now become aware of the fact that Lady Bankes
+was taking steps to render the castle capable of withstanding a siege,
+and they decided to occupy it at once.
+
+On June 23, 1643, Sir Walter Earle arrived before the castle with a
+force of about 600 men, and called upon Lady Bankes to surrender, which
+she firmly but courteously declined to do.  Her refusal greatly
+incensed the besiegers, who thereupon took an oath that 'if they found
+the defendants obstinate not to yield, they would maintain the siege to
+victory, and then deny quarter unto all, killing without mercy men,
+women and children.'
+
+The Parliamentarians, possessing several pieces of ordnance, opened
+fire on the castle from all quarters, but did comparatively little
+damage, and their attempts to carry it by assault were equally
+unsuccessful.
+
+When some days had passed, and the attacking forces were no nearer
+capturing the castle than when they first arrived, the Earl of Warwick
+sent to their assistance 150 sailors, a large supply of ammunition and
+numerous scaling-ladders.  Possessing these ladders, the Roundheads
+anticipated that the castle would soon be in their hands.  They divided
+their force into two parties, one assaulting the middle ward, which was
+defended by Captain Lawrence, and the other, the upper ward, where Lady
+Bankes, her daughters, women-servants and five soldiers were the sole
+defenders.
+
+As the Parliamentarians fixed their ladders against the castle wall
+Lady Bankes and her brave assistants showered down upon them red-hot
+stones and flaming wood.  The soldiers too, delighted at the bravery of
+the mistress of the castle, fought desperately, and not one of the
+enemy succeeded in gaining entrance to the castle.
+
+Sir Walter Earle, seeing that he could not carry the castle by assault,
+withdrew with a loss of one hundred killed and wounded.  He would in
+all probability have made another attack, but during the evening the
+news reached him that the king's forces were approaching, and overcome
+by fear he ordered a retreat, leaving behind muskets, ammunition and
+guns, all of which fell into the hands of Lady Bankes and her gallant
+garrison.
+
+After this siege, which had lasted for six weeks, Lady Bankes was
+allowed to remain for two years in undisturbed possession of the
+castle; but she lived in the knowledge that at any time another attempt
+to capture it might be made, as it was the only place of any importance
+between Exeter and London that remained loyal to the royal cause.
+Threats were constantly reaching her from certain members of the
+Parliamentary party, and to add to her trials her husband, whom she had
+not seen for two years, died at Oxford on December 28, 1644.
+
+In October, 1645, the Parliamentary army decided to make another and
+more determined effort to capture Corfe Castle, and a large force was
+sent to besiege it.  Lady Bankes and her handful of men had now pitted
+against them some of the best regiments in the victorious
+Parliamentarian army, but they scorned to surrender to them.
+
+It was in January of the following year that a young officer--Colonel
+Cromwell--determined to make an effort to rescue Lady Bankes, and
+riding with a specially picked troop from Oxford he passed through the
+enemy without its being discovered that he was a Royalist until he
+arrived at Wareham, the governor of which fired upon the troop.  A
+fight ensued, but the daring troopers speedily captured the governor
+and other leading men, and rode off to Corfe Castle, only, however, to
+find that between them and the besieged lay a strong force of the
+enemy.  They did not hesitate, but prepared instantly for the fight,
+and the besieged, cheering them loudly, made ready to sally forth and
+assist them.
+
+Afraid of being caught between the two Royalist parties, the besiegers
+retired, and Colonel Cromwell rode up in triumph to the castle walls,
+and handed over to Lady Bankes, for safe custody, the Governor of
+Wareham and other prisoners whom he had taken.
+
+Greatly to Colonel Cromwell's surprise, Lady Bankes declined to avail
+herself of the opportunity for escape which he had contrived, declaring
+that she would defend the castle as long as she possessed ammunition.
+Thinking that he could render the king greater service in the open than
+in a besieged castle, Colonel Cromwell rode off with his troop, but
+losing his way he and many of his men were captured by the enemy.
+Those who evaded capture made their way back to Corfe Castle, and
+assisted in its defence.
+
+Days passed without the enemy improving his position in the slightest
+degree, and Lady Bankes would have kept the royal flag flying for many
+months more, had there not been traitors in the castle.  Colonel
+Lawrence, who had gallantly assisted in the first defence of Corfe
+Castle, was persuaded by the Governor of Wareham to help him to escape,
+and to accompany him on his flight.  The treachery of Lawrence was a
+heavy blow for Lady Bankes, but she did not despair, believing it
+impossible that any other of her friends would turn traitor.
+Unfortunately she was mistaken.  An officer, who had hitherto been
+loyal and energetic as Colonel Lawrence, secretly sent word to the
+officer commanding the besieging force that if protection were given
+him he would deliver up the castle.  The proposal was welcomed, and
+after much secret correspondence it was settled that fifty men of the
+Parliamentarian army should disguise themselves as Royalists, and be
+admitted into the castle by the traitor.
+
+This plan succeeded.  The men were admitted without arousing any
+suspicion, and not until the following morning did the garrison
+discover that they had been betrayed.  A brief fight ensued, but
+resistance was useless, and with a sad heart Lady Bankes surrendered
+the castle which she had so nobly defended for nearly three years.
+
+The Parliamentarian officer who accepted the surrender was a humane
+man, and took care that his troops should not fulfil their vow to put
+to death every man, woman and child found in the castle.  After the
+place had been plundered, an attempt was made to destroy it, but the
+walls were so massive that its destruction was impossible, and to-day
+much of it is still standing.
+
+Lady Bankes was not kept prisoner for long, and Oliver Cromwell
+ordained that she should not be made to suffer for her loyalty and
+bravery.  Throughout the Commonwealth the heroine of Corfe Castle lived
+peacefully, and did not die until Charles II. had been upon the throne
+nearly a year.  She died on April 11, 1661, and in Ruislip Church,
+Middlesex, there is a monument, erected to her memory by her son, Sir
+Ralph Bankes, on which is inscribed a record of her brave defence.
+
+
+
+
+LADY HARRIET ACLAND.
+
+A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR.
+
+It was at the beginning of the year 1776 that Major Acland was ordered
+to proceed with his regiment to America, to take part in the attempt to
+quell the rising of the colonists.  His wife, to whom he had been
+married six years, at once asked to be allowed to accompany him, but he
+hesitated to give his consent, being doubtful whether she would be able
+to bear the hardships of a campaign.
+
+Hitherto her life had been one of comfort.  She was the third daughter
+of the first Earl of Ilchester, and her training had not been such as
+would qualify her for roughing it.  Major Acland did not, however,
+offer any objections when his wife, fearing that he thought the life
+would be too hard for her, declared that she had made up her mind to
+accompany him.
+
+Arriving in Canada, she soon found that campaigning was more arduous
+than she had imagined.  Her husband's regiment was continually on the
+march, and she suffered greatly from cold, fatigue and want of proper
+food.
+
+When they had been in Canada about a year, Major Acland became
+dangerously ill, and his wife, herself in ill-health, was his only
+nurse.  Although the twenty-seven years of her life had been without
+any experience of nursing, she soon became efficient, and before long
+had the pleasure of knowing that by her care and attention she had
+saved her husband's life.  But before Major Acland had fully regained
+his strength he was ordered to rejoin his regiment, to take part in the
+attack upon Ticonderoga.
+
+So far Lady Harriet had followed her husband from place to place, and
+she prepared to accompany him to Ticonderoga; but, knowing that the
+fight would be a severe one, he insisted upon her remaining behind.
+She obeyed him, but was miserable during his absence, and would have
+preferred the greatest hardships to sitting idle, waiting to hear the
+result of the battle.  It was a hard-fought one, but Ticonderoga was
+captured by the British, and the news filled Lady Harriet with joy, for
+her husband, who sent her the message, told her that he was unhurt.
+The joy was short-lived, however.  Two days later Lady Harriet was
+informed that on the day following the capture of Ticonderoga her
+husband had been dangerously wounded.  Reproaching herself for having
+been away from him in time of danger, she started off at once to where
+he lay, and by careful nursing she again saved his life.
+
+Lady Harriet had decided, during her husband's last illness, to follow
+him everywhere, no matter how great the danger; and when she was once
+more on the march some of the artillerymen, anxious to make her
+self-imposed task lighter, constructed for her a small two-wheeled
+carriage.
+
+Major Acland commanded the grenadiers, whose duty it was to be at the
+most advanced post of the army, and consequently Lady Harriet was
+always in danger of being killed or captured.  She, like the officers,
+lay down in her clothes, so that she might be ready at any moment to
+advance.  One night the tent in which she and her husband were sleeping
+caught fire, and had it not been for the prompt and gallant conduct of
+an orderly-sergeant, who at great personal risk dragged them out, they
+would have been suffocated or burnt to death.  As it was, Major Acland
+was severely burnt, and all their personal belongings were lost.
+
+Instead of being disheartened by the hardships and mishaps which fell
+to her lot, Lady Harriet became more cheerful as time went on; but
+another severe trial was in store for her.  Major Acland informed her
+that as they would in all probability engage the enemy in a day or two,
+she would have to remain in the care of the baggage guard, which was
+unlikely to be exposed to danger.  Lady Harriet protested, being
+anxious to accompany her husband into battle, but she was compelled to
+do as the major desired.  Here among the baggage she had for companions
+two other ladies, wives of officers.
+
+When the action began Lady Harriet was seated in a small hut which she
+had found unoccupied, and here she remained listening to the artillery
+and musketry fire, and praying that her husband might come out of the
+fight uninjured.  Soon, however, she had to vacate the hut, for the
+surgeons told her that they required it, as the fight was fierce, and
+the men were falling fast.  Unwittingly the surgeons had alarmed her.
+If men were falling fast there was little chance of her husband, whose
+place was in the front line of attack, escaping injury.
+
+For four hours the battle raged fiercely, but Lady Harriet could obtain
+no news other husband.  He was not among the wounded or dead who had
+been brought to the rear, but she feared that at any moment she might
+see him lying white and still on a stretcher.  The two ladies who
+waited with her were equally anxious for news from the front, and for
+them it came soon, and cruelly.  The husband of one was brought back
+mortally wounded, and a little later the other was told that her
+husband had been shot dead.
+
+The battle ceased, and the last of the wounded was brought to the
+surgeons, but still Lady Harriet was without news of Major Acland, and
+it was not until many hours later that she heard he was still alive.
+Her joy was tempered by the knowledge that the fighting would be
+renewed before many days had elapsed.
+
+At last, on October 7, 1777, the second battle of Saratoga was fought.
+Lady Harriet was once again doomed to listen to the sound of cannon and
+musketry, and to see a sad procession of wounded moving to the rear.
+As time passed without any news of her husband reaching her, she began
+to hope that he would pass through the battle uninjured; but this was
+not to be.  Soon the news came that the British, under General
+Burgoyne, had been defeated, and that Major Acland, seriously wounded,
+had been taken prisoner.
+
+For a time Lady Harriet was overcome with grief, but growing calmer she
+determined to make an attempt to join her husband in the American camp
+and nurse him there.  'When the army was upon the point of moving after
+the halt described,' General Burgoyne wrote in his account of the
+campaign, 'I received a message from Lady Harriet, submitting to my
+decision a proposal (and expressing an earnest solicitude to execute
+it, if not interfering with my designs) of passing to the camp of the
+enemy, and requesting General Gates's permission to attend her husband.
+Though I was ready to believe (for I had experienced) that patience and
+fortitude in a supreme degree were to be found, as well as every other
+virtue, under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal.
+After so long an agitation of the spirits, exhausted not only for want
+of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rains for twelve
+hours together, that a woman should be capable such an undertaking as
+delivering herself to the enemy, probably in the night, and uncertain
+of what hands she might first fall into, appeared an effort above human
+nature.  The assistance I was enabled to give was small indeed; I had
+not even a cup of wine to offer her; but I was told she had found, from
+some kind and fortunate hand, a little rum and dirty water.  All I
+could furnish to her was an open boat and a few lines, written upon
+dirty and wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her to his
+protection.'
+
+Accompanied by an army chaplain and two servants, Lady Harriet
+proceeded up the Hudson River in an open boat to the enemy's outposts;
+but the American sentry, fearing treachery, refused to allow her to
+land, and ignoring the white handkerchief which she held aloft,
+threatened to shoot anyone in the boat who ventured to move.  For eight
+hours, unprotected from the night air, Lady Harriet sat shivering in
+the boat, but at daybreak she prevailed upon the sentry to have her
+letter delivered to General Gates.  The American general readily gave
+permission for her to join her husband, who, she found, had been shot
+through both legs, in addition to having received several minor wounds.
+His condition was serious, but Lady Harriet succeeded in nursing him
+into comparatively good health.
+
+When Major Acland was sufficiently recovered to be able to travel he
+returned with his wife to England, where the story of Lady Harriet's
+bravery and devotion was already well-known.  A portrait of her, in
+which she is depicted standing in the boat holding aloft a white
+handkerchief, was exhibited in the Royal Academy and engraved.  Sir
+Joshua Reynolds also painted a portrait of her.
+
+Lady Harriet, 'the heroine of the American War,' lived, admired and
+respected, for thirty-seven years after her husband's death, dying
+deeply mourned at Tatton, Somersetshire, on July 21, 1815.
+
+'Let such as are affected by these circumstances of alarm, hardship and
+danger, recollect,' General Burgoyne wrote, 'that the subject of them
+was a woman, of the most tender and delicate frame, of the gentlest
+manners, habituated to all the soft elegances and refined enjoyments
+that attend high birth and fortune.  Her mind alone was formed for such
+trials.'  But in very many cases heroines have been women from whom few
+would have expected heroism.  The blustering braggart does not often
+prove to be a hero in time of danger, and the gentle, unassuming woman
+is the type of which heroines are frequently made.  The aristocracy the
+middle and the lower classes, have each given us many heroines of this
+type.
+
+
+
+
+AIMEE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+Napoleon was entering Moscow in triumph.  It was night, and the streets
+of the Russian capital were deserted, but at a window of one house past
+which the victorious troops were marching sat a French lady, eagerly
+scanning the faces of the officers.  Her husband, Captain Ladoinski, of
+the Polish Lancers, was somewhere among the troops, but she failed to
+recognise him as he rode by.  Soon, however, he was at her house, and
+great was the joy of meeting after long separation.
+
+After the first greeting, Aimee Ladoinski noticed that her husband was
+wounded, and although he spoke lightly of his wound, it was not a
+slight one.  Moreover, it had been aggravated by want of attention, for
+Napoleon's surgeons did not at this time possess the proper appliances
+for dressing wounds.  Captain Ladoinski's wound had been dressed with
+moss and bandaged with parchment!  In a few minutes after making this
+discovery Madame Ladoinski had bandaged her husband's wound with lint
+and linen.  It was a great relief to the warrior, and settling down in
+a comfortable chair he proceeded to question his wife as to how she had
+fared during his absence, and then to relate his own adventures.
+
+Suddenly, as they sat talking, a fierce red light shone into the room,
+which had until then been in darkness, except for the feeble glimmer
+from a shaded lamp in the corner.  Rising quickly, Madame Ladoinski
+went to the window, closely followed by her husband, who uttered an
+exclamation of surprise when he saw that a fire was raging in the newly
+captured city.
+
+Taking up his lance Captain Ladoinski hurried out, to order his men to
+assist in subduing the fire, but at the doorway he was met by a
+messenger who made known to him Napoleon's command, that the troops
+billeted in that portion of the town were not to leave their quarters.
+Surprised at this order, Captain Ladoinski returned to his wife, and
+together they watched from their window the rapidly extending fire.
+The burning part of the city was at a considerable distance from where
+they stood, but it seemed to them that unless prompt measures were
+taken it would be impossible to save the city from utter destruction.
+Hundreds of soldiers were resting near them who might have been busily
+employed in checking the progress of the flames.  The truth dawned on
+both of them.  Napoleon did not see his way to save Moscow from this
+new calamity.
+
+Now Aimee Ladoinski had resided for some time in Moscow, and its
+streets and palaces were familiar to her, and the thought of their
+ruthless destruction to thwart the designs of one man filled her with
+shame--shame that he who had caused this act of vandalism was a
+Frenchman.
+
+Madame Ladoinski did not admire Napoleon, for she was at heart a
+Bourbon, and regarded him as an usurper.  The reckless sacrifice of
+thousands of his fellow countrymen for his own aggrandisement filled
+her with loathing for the man, and she did not conceal her feelings
+from her husband, who made no attempt to defend the emperor.  It was
+not for love of him that Captain Ladoinski had fought under 'the Little
+Corporal.'  He was a Pole, and it was because Napoleon was fighting the
+oppressor of the Polish race--Russia--that he fought for the French.
+The Russians had been humbled, and he, a Pole, had marched as one of a
+victorious army into their capital.  But secretly he wondered if the
+condition of much-persecuted Poland would be better under Napoleon than
+it was under Russia.  His wife candidly declared that it would not be.
+Napoleon had promised he would free Poland from the Russian yoke, but
+she felt convinced that it would simply be to place the country under
+French rule.
+
+'And, wherefore,' she said to her husband, as we read in Watson's
+_Heroic Women of History_, 'should Poland find such solitary grace in
+the eyes of Europe's conquerors?  Shall all the nations lie prostrate
+at his feet, and Poland alone be permitted to stand by his side as an
+equal?  Be wise, my dear Ladoinski.  You confess that the conqueror
+lent but a lifeless ear to the war-cry of your country.  Be timely
+wise; open your eyes, and see that this cold-hearted victor--wrapped in
+his own dark and selfish aims--uses the sword of the patriot Pole only,
+like that of the prostrate Prussian, to hew the way to his own throne
+of universal dominion....  Believe it, this proud man did not enslave
+all Europe to become the liberator of Poland.  Ah! trust me, that is
+but poor freedom which consists only In a change of masters.  O
+Ladoinski!  Ladoinski! give up this mad emprise; return to the bosom of
+your family; and when your compatriots arise to assert their rights at
+the call of their country, and not at the heartless beck of a stranger
+despot, I will buckle the helmet on your brow.'
+
+Captain Ladoinski was inclined to believe that his wife had spoken the
+truth when she said that Napoleon would forget the Poles, now that
+Russia was crushed.  Posing as a disinterested man eager to deliver the
+Poles from the hands of their oppressor, Napoleon had gathered round
+him a band of brave men, who fought with the determination of men
+fighting for their homes and liberty.  They had served his purpose, and
+he would reward them, not with the freedom he had promised, but with
+the intimation that they were now his subjects.  It was a terrible
+disappointment, but Captain Ladoinski consoled himself with the belief
+that French rule would not be so hard to bear as the Russian had been.
+
+The fire spread apace.  It was a grand yet terrible scene, the like of
+which, it is to be hoped, will never again be witnessed.  Soon the heat
+became unbearable in the quarter of the city where the Ladoinskis stood
+and watched, and sparks and big flaring brands fell in showers.  Unless
+they departed quickly they would be burned to death.
+
+Captain Ladoinski could not seek safety in flight, for he had been
+commanded to remain in his quarters, and the order had not been
+cancelled.  Assuring his wife that he would soon be at liberty to leave
+his post, he urged her to depart with their child and wait for him
+outside the city.  This she refused to do, declaring that as long as he
+remained where he was she would stay with him.  And this determination
+he could not alter, although he used every persuasion possible to that
+end.
+
+On came the flames, crackling, hissing and roaring, and soon the houses
+facing the Ladoinskis would be engulfed in them.  The captain would not
+quit his post without orders, and his wife would not leave him.  Death
+seemed certain, and they were preparing to meet it, when suddenly an
+order came from head-quarters ordering the troops to evacuate the city
+with all despatch.  Instantly the retreat began, but many men fell in
+the scorching, suffocating streets never to rise again.  Captain
+Ladoinski and his wife and child had many narrow escapes from the fiery
+brands which fell hissing into the roads as they hurried on towards the
+suburbs, but fortunately they received no injury.
+
+Arriving on high ground, and safe from the fire's onslaught, the
+Ladoinskis stood, with thousands of Napoleon's army, gazing at the
+destruction of Moscow.  The captain, remembering the havoc which the
+Russians had wrought by fire and sword in Warsaw, rejoiced to see their
+capital in flames; but his wife checked his rejoicing by warning him
+that the destruction of Moscow would not bring freedom to Poland.
+
+And now began Napoleon's retreat.  Terrible were the sufferings of the
+men, but it is only with Madame Ladoinski's trials that we are
+concerned.  Knowing that after the burning of Moscow it would be
+dangerous for any French person to remain in Russia, she, with many
+other people of her nationality, accompanied the French army on its
+disastrous retreat.  She travelled in a baggage-wagon, which at any
+rate afforded her and her child some protection from the frost and
+snow.  To her the journey was not so terrible an undertaking as to some
+of her compatriots, for she had the pleasure of being daily with her
+husband, after some years of separation.  But her pleasure soon
+received a rude shock.  The Cossacks hung on with tenacity to the
+remains of the great French army, swooping down at unexpected times
+upon some dispirited, disorganised section, cutting it to pieces, and
+recapturing some of the spoil with which the troops were loaded.
+
+Captain Ladoinski was present when one of these attacks was made, and,
+while assisting to repel the attackers, received a dangerous wound.  A
+place was found for him in the baggage-wagon, and there he lay for
+days, tenderly nursed by his wife.  The road was blocked in many places
+with abandoned guns, dead horses, and broken-down wagons, and
+travelling was difficult.  Some of the wagons had not broken down
+accidentally or through hard wear, but had been tampered with by the
+drivers.  Many a terrible act was perpetrated in baggage-wagons during
+the retreat from Moscow.  In these wagons, among the spoil taken from
+the capital, were placed the wounded, frequently unattended and without
+protection.  Many of the drivers, anxious to possess some of the spoil
+with which their wagons were loaded, weakened the axle, so that it
+should collapse.  The bedraggled soldiers would march on, and when the
+drivers were well in rear of the force they murdered their wounded
+passengers and looted the wagons.
+
+One night Madame Ladoinski was awakened by the stoppage of their wagon.
+She had heard stories of the murdering of the wounded by wagon-drivers,
+but she had not believed them, and after peeping out at the
+snow-covered country, and seeing that soldiers and other wagons were
+near, she lay down again, and in a few minutes was sleeping soundly--a
+sleep from which in all probability she would not have awakened, so
+intense was the cold, had not the wagon arrived at Smolensk, a depot of
+the French army, an hour later.  Her life was saved by the prompt
+attention of a young officer, who glanced into the wagon, and was
+surprised to find her lying insensible with her child beside her.
+Calling to some brother officers, he jumped into the wagon and poured a
+little brandy into Madame Ladoinski's mouth.  Then, when she began to
+show signs of returning consciousness, he and his companions lifted her
+from the wagon to carry her and her boy to a house where they would be
+properly warmed, fed and nursed.
+
+On the way some of the officers recognised her as Captain Ladoinski's
+wife, and they were naturally surprised to find her in such a sad
+condition.  'Where is Ladoinski?' they asked each other; and one
+replied that on the previous day he had seen him, wounded, in the wagon
+with his wife and child.  Some expressed the belief that he had died of
+his wounds, but others declared that he must have been murdered by the
+wagon-drivers, who, scoundrels though they were, had possessed
+sufficient humanity to spare the woman and child.
+
+As in a dream, Madame Ladoinski had heard the conversation of the
+officers, and suddenly she grasped the meaning of what they had said.
+
+'My husband! my husband!' she cried, wildly.  'Where is he?'
+
+The officers, distressed at her grief, told her that when the wagon
+arrived at Smolensk, she and her boy were the only people in it.  Of
+her husband they had seen or heard nothing, and the wagon-drivers had
+disappeared soon after reaching the city.  They endeavoured to cheer
+her, however, by assuring her that he was, no doubt, not far away, and
+would soon return to her.  But she, remembering what they had said when
+they believed her to be unconscious, was not calmed by their
+well-intentioned words.
+
+Two days passed, and nothing was seen or heard of Captain Ladoinski,
+although the officers who had taken an interest in his wife made every
+effort to obtain news of him.  They were in their own minds convinced
+that he was dead, but in order that a searching enquiry might be made,
+they obtained for her an interview with two of the most powerful of
+Napoleon's officers--the King of Naples and Prince Eugene Beauharnais,
+Viceroy of Italy.  These officers listened quietly to the story of her
+husband's disappearance, and having expressed their sympathy with her,
+an aide-de-camp was summoned and ordered to make immediate enquiries
+among the wagon-drivers as to the fate of Captain Ladoinski.  The
+aide-de-camp answered respectfully that he and several of his brother
+officers had already closely questioned every wagon-driver they could
+find, and that the men had sworn that Captain Ladoinski had died during
+the night of cold and of his wounds, and that his body had been thrown
+out into the snow.  Madame Ladoinski, they declared, was insensible
+from cold when her husband died.
+
+Clasping her boy, Madame Ladoinski burst into tears.  For a few minutes
+she sat sobbing bitterly, but then, in the midst of her grief, she
+remembered that she was encroaching on the time of the officers before
+her.  Controlling her tears as well as she was able, she asked for a
+safe-conduct for herself and child.  As a Frenchwoman and the widow of
+a Polish rebel she would receive, she reminded her hearers, no mercy if
+she fell into the hands of the Russians.  Her husband had fought for
+the French, and she claimed French protection.  Instantly the two
+marshals declared that she should have the protection she asked, and
+Prince Eugene offered her a seat in a wagon that would accompany his
+division when it started in the course of a few days.
+
+Madame Ladoinski accepted the offer with gratitude, whereupon the
+aide-de-camp was informed that she was to be placed in a baggage-wagon,
+and that the drivers were to be told that if their passengers did not
+reach the end of the journey in safety they would answer for it with
+their lives.  On the other hand, if she arrived safely in Poland, and
+declared that she and her boy had been well-treated on the way, each
+driver would receive five hundred francs.
+
+In a few days Madame Ladoinski was once again in a baggage-wagon; but
+Napoleon's 'Grand Army' was now in a terrible condition.  Ragged,
+starving, dispirited by the constant harassing from the enemy, and the
+continuous marching through snow, it made but slow progress.  The
+gloomy forests through which the miserable army tramped on its way to
+attempt the passage of the Beresina were blocked with snow, and so
+difficult was it to move the guns that Napoleon ordered that one half
+of the baggage-wagons were to be destroyed, so that the horses and oxen
+might be utilised for dragging forward the artillery.  The wagon in
+which Madame Ladoinski rode was one of the number condemned to
+destruction, but the men who had been ordered to protect her speedily
+found room for her in another vehicle.
+
+A day or two later, when the bedraggled army was nearing the Polish
+frontier, Madame Ladoinski was startled from her dejection by hearing
+loud joyful shouts, and on enquiring of the driver the reason of the
+noise she was told that a reinforcement under Marshal Victor had
+unexpectedly arrived.
+
+Soon the reinforcements were passing the wagon, but Madame Ladoinski
+possessed neither the energy nor the curiosity to glance out at them.
+She could think of nothing but her dead husband and her little orphaned
+boy.  But suddenly as she sat brooding over her great loss she heard,
+'Forward, lancers!' uttered in Polish.  Believing that it was her
+husband's voice she had heard, she sprang up and looked out at the
+troop trotting ahead.  But she could not recognise her husband among
+the lancers, and she turned to sit down, believing that she was the
+victim of a delusion.  To her surprise she saw her little son standing,
+with a finger uplifted to urge silence, listening eagerly.
+
+'What is it, darling?' she asked.
+
+'Father!' he replied.
+
+Again Madame Ladoinski's spirits rose, but they fell quickly when she
+remembered that the Polish Lancers had quitted Smolensk before she and
+her boy arrived there.  It was madness, therefore, to imagine that her
+wounded husband could be with Marshal Victor's army, and she dismissed
+the hope from her mind.
+
+Days of terrible suffering for Napoleon's army followed, but eventually
+Studzianka, on the left bank of the Beresina, was reached, and the
+soldiers hoped that once in Poland their trials would diminish.  Madame
+Ladoinski, her spirits reviving at the prospect of soon being in her
+husband's native land, lay listening to the noise of the men busily
+engaged in building the bridges over which the French army was to pass.
+Suddenly there was a tremendous uproar; shouts of joy, cries of
+triumph.  Looking out Madame Ladoinski saw at once the cause of the
+excitement--the enemy who had been encamped on the opposite bank of the
+river was in full retreat.  The fierce battle which she had dreaded, in
+case her boy might be injured, would not be fought.  Falling on her
+knees in the wagon, she thanked God for averting the danger she feared.
+
+Now that the Russians were gone, the cavalry swam their horses across
+the river, and took up a position that would protect the crossing of
+the foot soldiers.  The bridges were completed at last, and quickly the
+ragged regiments hurried over them.  The baggage-wagons were to be left
+until the last, and for hours Madame Ladoinski sat watching regiment
+after regiment hurry across.  Napoleon, stern and silent, passed close
+to her, and a mighty shout of 'Vive L'Empereur' burst from his
+trusting, long-suffering troops, when he gained the opposite bank.
+
+Soon after Napoleon had crossed, Prince Eugene came along, and seeing
+Madame Ladoinski he rode over to her, and told her cheerfully that she
+would soon be among her husband's friends, and that her trials would
+then be at an end.  Then, turning to the drivers, he commanded them not
+to forget the order he had given concerning their behaviour and care of
+the lady entrusted to them.
+
+When at last more than half the troops had crossed, the news arrived
+that the Russians had suddenly turned about and were marching back to
+the position they had vacated, while another strong body of the enemy
+was advancing to attack in the rear the troops which had not yet
+crossed.  Instantly there was a panic, and the wagon-drivers, anxious
+for their own safety, turned Madame Ladoinski and her companions out of
+the wagon, so that their weight might not impede their progress.
+Madame Ladoinski reminded them of Prince Eugene's instructions, but
+they took no notice.  Neither fear of punishment nor hope of reward had
+any influence over them now; they were anxious only for their own
+safety.
+
+For a minute or two Madame Ladoinski knew not what to do.  To attempt
+to cross either of the bridges on foot would, she soon saw, result in
+her and her child being crushed to death.  Others, men and women, had
+come to the same conclusion, and were wandering, shivering with cold,
+along the bank of the river.  These Madame Ladoinski hastened to,
+believing, as did they, that before long the bridges would be less
+crowded, and they would be able to cross in safety.
+
+But soon the sound of the Russian guns was heard in the rear of Madame
+Ladoinski and her fellow-sufferers, and a little later the cheers of
+the advancing enemy could be heard distinctly.  Marshal Victor's force,
+which lay between these unfortunate people and the Russians, fought
+gallantly at first, but at last they began to give way, and Madame
+Ladoinski feared that all was lost.  Nearer and nearer came the enemy,
+and many of their musket balls reached the despairing creatures by the
+riverside.  Approaching nearer to one of the bridges, Madame Ladoinski
+decided to join the crowd of terrified fugitives that was struggling
+across it.  But before she reached it there was a terrible rush for it,
+and she stood aghast looking at the awful scene.  Every one in the
+living mass was terrified, and each was fighting for his own life.
+Those who fell were quickly trampled to death by the hurrying mob, or
+crushed beneath the wheels of baggage-wagons and artillery.  Now and
+again some terrified man, possessed of more than average strength,
+would be seen making his way along the crowded bridge by seizing and
+pitching into the river any who barred his way.  And to add to the
+horror of the scene a terrible storm burst.
+
+Madame Ladoinski, horrified by what she saw, decided to make no attempt
+to cross, but to remain where she was.  Musket balls were now falling
+rapidly around her, and, to save her boy from the chance of being
+wounded, she laid him down on the ground, and placed herself in such a
+position that no ball could touch him unless it passed through her.
+Thick and fast the balls were flying, and Madame Ladoinski expected to
+receive at any minute a fatal wound, but, although men and women fell
+close around her, she remained unhurt.
+
+Slowly but surely Victor's men were driven back on the crowd that was
+still struggling to cross the bridge, and whose condition was made
+still more awful by the Russian infantry firing on it.
+
+At last some of the regiments fled in disorder before the advancing
+enemy, and a troop of horse dashed back within a few yards of Madame
+Ladoinski.
+
+'Stand, lancers, stand!' the officer was shouting to his men, and his
+voice sent a thrill of joy through Madame Ladoinski, for it was her
+husband's.
+
+She was confident of it this time, and almost immediately a strong gust
+of wind blew aside the smoke, which hung heavily over the battlefield,
+and there, not many yards away, was he whom she had believed to be
+dead.  In stirring tones he called upon his men to charge once again
+into the ranks of the enemy.
+
+'My love, my husband!' Madame Ladoinski called, still sheltering her
+boy with her body.  'It is I, it is Aimee.'  But the din of warfare and
+the roaring of the wind drowned her voice.  Again she called, but still
+he did not hear.
+
+'Lancers! forward,' he shouted.  'For God and Poland!  'For God and
+Poland!' his men answered, and spurring their horses they dashed
+forward once more to meet the enemy.  Ladoinski had not seen his wife,
+and perhaps he would never see her again!  Madame Ladoinski wept
+quietly; but as night began to draw nigh she determined to cross the
+bridge, thinking that she and her boy might as well risk being crushed
+on the bridge as being shot by the enemy.  But when she saw the crowd
+of human beings turned by terror into demons, she decided to remain
+where she was.
+
+A few minutes later, as she lay protecting her boy and gazing at the
+struggling mob, she saw the largest bridge sway, and almost instantly
+it collapsed and fell, with its struggling mass of human beings, into
+the icy river.  For a few minutes the terrified shrieks of the drowning
+men and women were heard even amidst the noise of battle and the
+roaring of the wind; then they ceased.
+
+It seemed to Madame Ladoinski that there was to be no end to the
+terrors of that day.  She felt that she was going out of her mind, and
+prayed that she and her boy might die quickly.
+
+Throughout the night Madame Ladoinski lay beside her boy in the snow.
+But she did not sleep a minute.  The thunder of the enemy's artillery,
+the sound of the musketry, and the noise of the disordered mob of
+soldiers who fought like demons to get safely across the one remaining
+bridge, would have prevented almost anyone from sleeping.
+
+When daylight came the Russians were so near that it was clear to
+Madame Ladoinski that unless she crossed the bridge immediately she
+would soon be a prisoner.  Lifting her boy, and sheltering him as much
+as possible, she hurried towards the bridge, but two or three times,
+when the enemy's fire increased in severity, she took cover for a few
+minutes.  At last she reached the bridge.  The crowd was not now great,
+and it would have been possible for her to cross without any fear of
+her boy being crushed, but no sooner had they put their feet on the
+bridge when shouts of 'Go back, go back!  Give yourselves up to the
+Russians,' burst from their comrades who had already crossed the river.
+Stupefied, the people fell back, and almost at the same moment the last
+bridge burst into flames.  To prevent the Russians from pursuing them,
+the French had burnt the bridge and left hundreds of their fellow
+countrymen to fall into the hands of the enemy.
+
+The Cossacks, who were first of the Russian army to reach the river,
+were more eager for plunder than slaughter, and Madame Ladoinski fled
+along the river bank with her child pressed to her bosom.  She had no
+idea of what to do, and for a time she escaped molestation.  Then she
+decided to make an attempt to struggle through the river.  She knew
+that there was very little probability of her being able to reach the
+other side, but it would be better for her and her little son to die
+than to fall into the hands of the semi-savage Cossacks.  Tying her boy
+to her, so that the fate of one might be the other's, she approached
+the water; but on the brink she was seized by a Russian.  Terrified,
+she screamed for help, and it was fortunate that she did so, for the
+remnants of the Polish Lancers--last to cease fighting the
+Russians--were entering the river not many yards away, and Captain
+Ladoinski heard her cries.  Calling to his men to come back, he urged
+his horse up the bank, and galloped along the riverside until he came
+to his wife and child.  The Russian fled at the approach of the Polish
+Lancers, and Captain Ladoinski lifted his wife and child on to his
+horse without recognising them.  Then quickly he put his horse to the
+river, and soon they were plunging through it with the water sometimes
+more than half over them, and musket balls lashing the river around
+them.
+
+Madame Ladoinski had recognised her husband the instant he placed her
+before him on his horse, and, overcome with joy, she had swooned before
+she could utter a word.  He remained quite unconscious of whom he had
+rescued until, in mid-stream, the shawl which had been over his wife's
+head and shoulders slipped and disclosed her face.  Joy did not cause
+the Polish captain to lose his wits, but made him more careful of his
+precious burden.  He had been in a reckless mood, courting death in
+fact, during the last quarter of an hour of the fight, but now he was
+anxious to live.  It would indeed be sad, he thought, if now, when
+safety was almost reached, a shot should lay him, or still worse, his
+wife, low.  But on through danger the brave horse struggled with his
+heavy load, and soon Captain Ladoinski was able to place his wife and
+son on dry land, and to give them the warmth and food which they sadly
+needed.
+
+Then when Madame Ladoinski had recovered from the excitement of again
+meeting her husband, he told her that he had long since been assured
+that both she and their boy were dead.  He, as the wagon-drivers had
+sworn, had been thrown out of the wagon for dead, but some of his men
+came along soon after, and seeing him lying in the snow dismounted to
+see if he were alive.  Finding that his heart was beating, they set to
+work and restored him to consciousness, and then took him on to
+Smolensk, whence he sent back to enquire after his wife and child.  The
+message that was brought to him was that his wife and child had been
+murdered on the road.  Believing this to be true, he went on with his
+regiment--before they arrived at Smolensk--with henceforth only one aim
+in life--to avenge Poland's wrongs.
+
+The story of Captain Ladoinski's extraordinary rescue of his own wife
+and child created some excitement among Napoleon's soldiers, dispirited
+though they were by the terrible march they had undergone, and numerous
+and hearty were the congratulations which husband and wife received.
+Prince Eugene was one of the first to congratulate them, and Captain
+Ladoinski seized the opportunity to express his deep gratitude to the
+prince for the kindness he had shown to his wife in her sorrow, a
+kindness that was all the more creditable because Prince Eugene knew
+that Madame Ladoinski was a member of a Royalist family and an enemy of
+the Napoleonic dynasty.  For some considerable time after the terrible
+retreat from Moscow, Captain Ladoinski fought in Prince Eugene's army,
+but when, at last, the Prince's military career came to an end he
+retired into private life.  He had long since come to the conclusion
+that his wife was right when she said that Napoleon never had any
+intention of setting Poland free, but had obtained the services of the
+brave Poles under false pretences.
+
+Madame Ladoinski deserved years of happy domestic life after her
+fearful experiences with the French army, and it is pleasant to be able
+to say that she had them.  Until death parted them, many years later,
+she and her husband enjoyed the happiness of a quiet life unclouded by
+domestic or political troubles.
+
+
+
+
+LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY
+
+'Fighting Bob' was the nickname affectionately bestowed upon Sir Robert
+Sale by his comrades-in-arms.  Truly the name was well deserved, for
+wherever the fight was thickest there Sale was to be found, and the
+histories of his life abound with stories of his bravery and disregard
+of danger.
+
+When twenty-seven years of age he married Florentia Wynch, a girl of
+nineteen, who proved before long to be almost as brave as he.
+Throughout his life she was his companion in danger, and many times
+nursed him back to health when seriously wounded.  Adventures such as
+are rarely encountered by women were continually falling to her lot,
+but the greatest hardships which she was compelled to undergo were
+those attending the British retreat from Kabul in January, 1842.
+
+Discontent with British rule had led to rebellion in Afghanistan, and
+Sir Robert Sale was sent with a brigade to clear the passes to
+Jelalabad.  Lady Sale remained at Kabul, where the signs of discontent
+became daily more evident.  The British native troops were
+disheartened, and eventually it was decided to retreat from the city.
+
+At half-past nine in the morning of January 6, 1842, the British force,
+consisting of about 4500 soldiers, mostly native, and 12,000 followers,
+quitted Kabul.  The snow lay a foot deep on the ground, and the
+thermometer registered several degrees below freezing-point.  The
+bullocks had great difficulty in dragging the guns, and it took two
+hours and a half to cover the first mile.  This slow rate of progress
+was not, however, entirely due to the state of the weather, as some of
+the delay was caused by a bridge of boats having to be made across the
+Kabul river, which lay about half a mile from the city.  The camp
+followers refused to cross by any means but a bridge, but Lady Sale and
+her daughter, Mrs. Sturt, rode through with the horsemen.  Immediately
+they reached the opposite bank their clothes froze stiff, and they
+could not change them for others, for as the rear-guard quitted the
+city the Afghans fired upon them and captured, without meeting any
+resistance, nearly the whole of the baggage, commissariat and
+ammunition.  That night the British force, cold, hungry and dispirited,
+slept in the snow.  There were no tents, but an officer erected a small
+pall over the hole in the snow where Lady Sale and her daughter lay.
+
+At half-past seven on the following morning the march was resumed, but
+the force had not proceeded far when a party of Afghans sallied out
+from a small fort and carried off three guns.  The British fought
+bravely, but the sepoys made scarcely any resistance, and hundreds of
+them fled for their lives.
+
+As the British force advanced they saw the Afghans gathering in
+strength on either side, and before they had gone five miles they were
+compelled to spike and abandon two six-pounders, the horses not having
+sufficient strength to drag them.  They were now in possession of only
+two guns and very little ammunition.
+
+Men, hungry and numbed with cold, dropped out of the ranks, to be left
+to die from starvation, or to be massacred by the enemy.  Another night
+was spent in the open, and when daylight came there were many frozen
+corpses lying on the ground.  The troops were now utterly disorganised,
+and the Afghans continued to harass them, both while bivouacing and on
+the march.  It was a terrible time, but Lady Sale was calm, and
+endeavoured to instil with courage other women of the party.  Soon the
+British arrived at a spot where, some time previously, Sir Robert Sale
+had been wounded, and there a fierce attack was made upon them.  A ball
+entered Lady Sales' arm, her clothes were riddled with bullets, and her
+escape seemed impossible, so fierce was the fire of the enemy, who were
+in a strong position about fifty yards distant.  Nevertheless she did
+escape, but only to find that her daughter's husband, Lieutenant Sturt,
+had been mortally wounded.  Five hundred soldiers and two thousand five
+hundred camp followers were killed, and many women and children were
+carried off by the Afghans.  Others lay dying in the fast-falling snow.
+
+Lady Sale and her daughter were in great distress at the death of
+Lieutenant Sturt, and took little interest in the proposal that all the
+women should be placed under the protection of Mahommed Akbar Khan, who
+had suggested this step.  However, with the other women, they accepted
+the proffered protection, and were taken to a fort in the Khurd Kabul,
+and eventually they heard that the force with which they had quitted
+Kabul had been annihilated.
+
+On January 17, Lady Sale and her companions, among whom were now
+several British officers whom Mahommed Akbar Khan had captured, arrived
+at Badiabad, where, in a small mud fort the party, consisting of 9
+women, 20 men and 14 children, were kept prisoners.  However, they were
+not molested, and as food of a kind was supplied to them, they did not
+complain.  Their uncomfortable surroundings were, however, made more
+unpleasant by a series of earthquakes.
+
+On February 19, Lady Sale was spreading some clothes out to dry on the
+flat roof of the fort, when a terrible shock occurred, causing the
+place to collapse.  Lady Sale fell with the building, but rose from the
+ruins unhurt.  Even the wounds received by her on the day Lieutenant
+Sturt was killed were not aggravated by the accident.  Before dark that
+day there were twenty-five distinct shocks, and about fifteen more
+during the night.  For some weeks after this they were constantly
+occurring.  At one spot, not far away, 120 Afghans and 20 Hindus were
+buried in the ruins of buildings shaken to the ground.
+
+During her captivity Lady Sale had been able to write letters to her
+husband, who was shut up with his garrison in Jelalabad, and her great
+desire was that he should be able to hold the place until relief
+arrived.  On March 15 a rumour reached her that it had been captured by
+the Afghans, but to her great delight she heard later that the rumour
+was false.  She was exceedingly proud of her husband, and gloried in
+his successes.  A successful defence of the city would, she knew, add
+considerably to his reputation.  During the following five months Lady
+Sale and her daughter were continually being moved from one place to
+another, and before long it became clear to them that the Afghan
+rebellion was being rapidly quelled.  Rumours of British victories
+reached them, and the man who was in charge of them, while moving from
+place to place, made it understood that for Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 1000 a
+month for life he would effect their escape.
+
+But soon, on September 15, the good news was received that the British
+were coming to their rescue, and, guided by the bribed Afghan, Lady
+Sale and her companions moved off secretly to meet them.  Two days
+later they arrived at the foot of the Kalu Pass, where they met Sir
+Richmond Shakespeare, with 600 native horsemen, coming to their rescue.
+
+Lady Sale was naturally anxious to hear of her husband's doings, and
+Sir Richmond Shakespeare was able to make her happy by telling her of
+how gallantly he had defended Jelalabad.  Soon, however, she heard from
+his own lips the story of his defence.  On September 19, a horseman
+arrived with a message from Sir Robert Sale, saying that he was
+advancing with a brigade.  Lady Sale had been feeling weak for several
+days, but the news of her husband's approach gave her fresh strength.
+
+'It is impossible to express our feelings on Sale's approach,' she
+wrote in her diary.  'To my daughter and myself happiness so long
+delayed as to be almost unexpected was actually painful, and
+accompanied by a choking sensation which could not obtain the relief of
+tears.'
+
+The men loudly cheered Lady Sale and her daughter, and pressed forward
+to express their hearty congratulations at their escape.  'And then,'
+Lady Sale continued in her diary, 'my highly-wrought feelings found the
+desired relief; and I could scarcely speak to thank the soldiers for
+their sympathy, whilst the long withheld tears now found their course.
+On arriving at the camp, Captain Backhouse fired a royal salute from
+his mountain train guns; and not only our old friends, but all the
+officers in the party, came to offer congratulations and welcome our
+return from captivity.'
+
+After a visit to England, Sir Robert and Lady Sale returned to India in
+March, 1844.  Towards the end of the following year the Sikh War broke
+out, and at the battle of Mudki, fought on December 18, Sir Robert's
+left thigh was shattered by a grape shot, and he died three days later.
+
+Lady Sale continued to reside in India after her husband's death, her
+comfort secured by a pension of L500 a year, granted to her by Queen
+Victoria, as a mark of approbation of her own and Sir Robert's conduct.
+She died at Cape Town, which she was visiting for the benefit of her
+health, on July 6, 1853, aged sixty-three.
+
+
+
+
+ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD,
+
+AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR
+
+Until late in the last century it was a common thing for the ruler of a
+native Eastern state to celebrate his accession to the throne by
+slaughtering his brothers and uncles.  This drastic measure reduced the
+possibilities of the new ruler being deposed, and was considered by the
+majority of the natives a wise precaution.  The Maharajah of Manipur
+was more humane than many rulers, and although he had seven brothers,
+he refrained from killing any of them.
+
+For several years the brothers lived on friendly terms with each other,
+but eventually quarrels arose through two of them wanting to marry the
+same woman.  The eight brothers divided into two parties, and
+quarrelled so incessantly, that the maharajah deemed it wise to
+abdicate and leave the country.  Mr. Grimwood the British Political
+Agent, did his utmost to dissuade the  maharajah from abdicating, but
+without success.  He departed, and one of his brothers became ruler.
+
+Mr. Grimwood and his wife had lived for three years in Manipur when the
+maharajah abdicated, and during that time the natives had always been
+friendly towards them.  Even the royal brothers, while quarrelling
+among themselves, maintained their usual friendly relations with them.
+
+Manipur is an out-of-the-way place, lying in the heart of the
+mountainous region, which is bordered on the north by the Assam Valley,
+on the east and south by Burma, and on the west by the Cachar district.
+During the greater portion of their stay in Manipur Mr. and Mrs.
+Grimwood were the only white people in the place, and consequently the
+news that the Chief Commissioner was on his way to hold a durbar at the
+Residency afforded them much pleasure.  But the information that his
+excellency was accompanied by 400 men of the 42nd and 44th Ghurkhas,
+made it clear that some political event of considerable importance was
+about to take place.  The Chief Commissioner had, in fact, decided to
+arrest the jubraj, the maharajah's brother, at the durbar which was
+fixed for eight o'clock in the morning of March 23, 1891.
+
+But the jubraj had his suspicions aroused by the military force which
+accompanied the Chief Commissioner.  He did not attend the durbar, but
+sent a message to say that he was too unwell to be present.  Four hours
+later, Mr. Grimwood was sent to the palace to inform the jubraj that he
+was to be arrested and banished, and to persuade him to surrender
+peacefully.  This the jubraj refused to do, and consequently it was
+decided to storm the palace and capture him.
+
+Fighting began on the following day, shortly before daybreak.  The
+palace walls, some sixty yards from the Residency, and separated from
+it by an unfordable moat, were loop-holed, and soon a fierce fire was
+opened on the attackers.  Mrs. Grimwood sought shelter in the little
+telegraph office, but bullets were soon crashing through it, and her
+position was one of extreme danger, but after the first fright she
+settled down to help the doctor attend to the wounded.
+
+The British attack on the palace was not, however, successful, and the
+Manipuris crept round to the back of the Residency, and made an attack
+upon it.  They were beaten off, but the British force was soon in a
+critical position; for, shortly after 4 o'clock, some big guns opened
+fire on the Residency, where the whole of the force was now
+concentrated.  Mrs. Grimwood states in her book, _My Three Years in
+Manipur_, that the first shell fired at the Residency made her
+speechless with fear; but others who were present state that a few
+minutes later she was hard at work attending to the wounded under fire.
+The cellars under the Residency were used as a hospital, and terrible
+were the sights which the brave woman witnessed.  Every hour the
+position of the British became more desperate.  Men were falling
+quickly, and the ammunition was running out.
+
+At last a message was sent to the jubraj asking on what conditions he
+would cease firing on the Residency.  His reply was to the effect that
+the British must surrender unconditionally.  Finding that the British
+would not agree to this, he sent word that if the Chief Commissioner
+would come to the palace gates he would discuss terms with him.  His
+excellency and Mr. Grimwood went forward, but as they reached the gates
+they were pushed inside the palace enclosure, and the gates closed
+behind them.  Then the Manipuris shouted that the white men were
+prisoners, and again opened fire on the Residency.  The British troops
+replied, but their position was now critical.  Very little ammunition
+remained, and shells were bursting over the Residency.  One burst near
+to Mrs. Grimwood's feet, but fortunately she only received a slight
+wound in the arm.
+
+At midnight the British officers decided to evacuate the Residency and
+retreat to Cachar.
+
+Mrs. Grimwood being the only person who knew the way to the Cachar
+road, acted as guide, and led the retreating force through hedges, over
+mud walls, and across a river.  Looking back when they had gone four
+miles, Mrs. Grimwood saw that the Residency, her home for three happy
+years, was in flames.  Her husband a prisoner, and her home destroyed,
+it would not have been surprising if Mrs. Grimwood had been too
+grief-stricken to continue the journey on foot.  But she plodded on
+bravely in her thin house-shoes, and with her clothes heavy with water.
+Sometimes the hills were so steep that she had to climb them on hands
+and knees, but she never complained, and did not hamper the progress of
+the force.  Not until twenty miles had been covered did she have a
+rest, and then, thoroughly exhausted, she wrapped herself in the
+overcoats which the officers lent her, and lay down and slept.
+
+A few hours later the retreating force, hungry, tired and somewhat
+dispirited, resumed its march.  Mrs. Grimwood's feet were cut and sore,
+but she tramped on bravely in the military boots which had been given
+her to replace her thin worn-out shoes.  They had now travelled beyond
+the country with which Mrs. Grimwood was familiar, and no one knew the
+way.  They pushed on in the direction which they believed to be the
+right one, but without being able to obtain anything to eat.  When,
+however, they had been two days without food, they came suddenly upon
+some Manipuri soldiers cooking rice.  The Manipuris, taken by surprise,
+fled quickly, leaving their rice to fall into the hands of the starving
+British force.
+
+Refreshed by the meal which they had so unexpectedly obtained, the
+British resumed their journey, but they had not gone far when they
+found a stockade barring their way.  The defenders opened fire on them
+at once, and as the British had no ammunition they rushed the stockade,
+causing the Manipuris to run for their lives.
+
+The British officers now decided to remain for a time in the captured
+stockade, but soon a large body of men was seen advancing towards it.
+Were they Ghurkhas or Manipuris?  No one could tell, and reliance could
+not be placed on a bugle call, as both Ghurkhas and Manipuris had the
+same one.  It was believed by the majority that the advancing men were
+Manipuris, and one of the officers told Mrs. Grimwood that he had two
+cartridges left, one for her and one for himself, if the men proved to
+be the enemy.
+
+But they were not the enemy.  A sharp-eyed man discovered a white
+officer among the advancing soldiers, and this was ample proof that
+they were Ghurkhas.  A cheer from the stockade was answered by one from
+the approaching men, who were proceeding to Manipur, but had only heard
+a few hours before of the retreat of their comrades-in-arms.  They had
+plenty of provisions with them, and quickly gave the tired, hungry men
+a good meal.
+
+The remainder of the journey to the frontier was made in comparative
+comfort, but Mrs. Grimwood's trials were not yet ended.  Soon the sad
+news of her husband's death was broken to her.  He and his fellow
+prisoner had been executed with horrible brutality by order of the
+jubraj.
+
+The story of Mrs. Grimwood's heroism in attending to the wounded under
+fire, and her bravery during the long and trying retreat, aroused
+admiration throughout the civilized world.  In consideration of her
+exceptional services, the Secretary of State for India in Council
+awarded her a pension of L140 a year, and a special grant of L1000.
+The Princess of Wales--our present Queen--was exceedingly kind to her,
+and Queen Victoria invited her to Windsor Castle, and decorated her
+with the well-deserved Red Cross.
+
+
+
+
+THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA
+
+In December, 1880, a detachment of the 2nd Connaught Rangers was
+escorting a wagon-train, nearly a mile in length, from Leydenberg to
+Pretoria.  Until more than half the journey had been travelled the
+Boers, whom the British met on the way, had shown no disposition to be
+unfriendly, but, one morning, as the convoy slowly wended its way up a
+hill, studded with clumps of trees, a strong force of Boers jumped out
+from their places of concealment and called upon the British to
+surrender.  They sent forward, under a flag of truce, a written demand
+to that effect, but, seeing that the British officer in command had no
+intention to order his men to lay down their arms, they treacherously
+disregarded the white flag that was flying, and opened fire upon the
+convoy.
+
+The British were caught in an ambush, and the Boers, who greatly
+outnumbered them, wrought terrible havoc.  The Boers were concealed
+behind trees and stones, but the British could obtain scarcely any
+cover.  Their colonel was mortally wounded early in the fight, and soon
+there was only one officer unhurt.
+
+When the attack on the convoy began there were three women in one of
+the wagons.  Mrs. Marion Smith, widow of the late bandmaster, was
+travelling down country, with her two children, to sail on a troopship
+for England.  The other two women were Mrs. Fox, wife of the
+sergeant-major, and Mrs. Maistre, wife of the orderly-room clerk.
+Scarcely had the massacre begun when Mrs. Fox received a bullet wound
+as she sat in the wagon, and fell backwards, badly hurt.
+
+Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre were naturally alarmed at finding
+themselves suddenly in a position of such great danger.  But they were
+soldiers' wives, and soon all fear vanished, and having made Mrs.
+Smith's children comparatively safe in a corner of the wagon they
+stepped out to render aid to the wounded.  It was a terrible sight for
+them.  The ground was strewn with dead and dying, and nearly every face
+was familiar to them.  Regardless of the bullets that whizzed past
+them--one grazed Mrs. Smith's ear they tore up sheets to make bandages,
+and passing from one wounded man to another, stanched the flow of blood
+and bound the wounds.
+
+At last, when it became clear to the mortally wounded colonel that the
+annihilation of his force would be the result of a continuation of the
+fight, the 'Cease fire' was sounded, and the outnumbered British
+delivered up their arms.
+
+The soldiers' work was finished; Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre had still
+much to do.  On the battle-field the wounded lay thick, and for hours
+the two brave women worked at their self-appointed task.  Many a dying
+lad had his last minutes made happy by their kindly words and actions.
+
+From December 20 until March 31, 1881, the three women remained
+prisoners in the hands of the Boers.  They might, had they cared to do
+so, have led lives of idleness during their imprisonment, but, instead,
+they were busy from morning until night nursing the wounded.  Mrs.
+Fox's courage was indeed wonderful, for the wound she had received in
+the attack was very serious, and the doctors had told her that she
+could not expect to live long.  Her husband, too, had been severely
+wounded early in the fight, but nevertheless she was as indefatigable
+as Mrs. Maistre and Mrs. Smith in doing good.  The three women were
+adored by the wounded soldiers, for whom they wrote letters home,
+prepared dainty food, and read.
+
+When peace was declared the three brave women returned to England, and
+Mrs. Smith was decorated with the medal of the Order of St. John of
+Jerusalem.  She was reported, in the application that was made on her
+behalf, to have been 'unremitting in her attention to the wounded and
+dying soldiers during the action, and that her conduct while living
+under canvas was beyond all praise.  She did the utmost to relieve the
+sufferings of the men in hospital, and soothed the last moments of many
+a poor soldier, while sharing their privations to the full.'
+
+After a time Mrs. Smith's whereabouts became unknown to the
+authorities; they did not in fact know whether she were alive, and
+consequently she was not recommended for the Red Cross.  Mrs. Fox and
+Mrs. Maistre received the coveted decoration, but the former did not
+long survive the honour.  She died in January, 1888, at Cambridge
+Barracks, Portsmouth, and in making her death known to the regiment the
+colonel said:--'Mrs. Fox died a soldier's death, as her fatal illness
+was the result of a wound received in action, and aggravated in
+consequence of her noble self-devotion afterwards.'
+
+The Commander-in-Chief--H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge--ordered that
+military honours should be paid to the dead woman.  It was a very
+unusual thing, but the honour was well-merited, and crowds lined the
+streets to see the coffin borne past on a gun carriage.  Over the
+coffin was laid a Union Jack, and on this was placed the brave woman's
+Red Cross.  The men who bore her from the gun carriage to her grave in
+Southsea Cemetery were six non-commissioned officers who had been
+wounded in the fight of December 20, 1880, and whom she had nursed.
+
+
+
+* It is interesting to note that the publication of this volume quickly
+led to Mrs. Smith (now Mrs. Jeffreys) being traced; and, in response to
+an appeal to the War office, the authorities awarded the heroine the
+coveted decoration of the Royal Red Cross.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
+
+
+
+ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE
+
+'The Indians are coming!'
+
+It was on September 1, 1782, that a scout employed to watch the
+movements of the Red Indians rushed into the West Virginian village of
+Wheeling, shouting the dreaded warning of the savages' approach.
+Instantly the inhabitants took refuge in the fort, and prepared to
+offer a determined resistance.  The fort had no regular garrison, it
+being the duty of the settlers to defend it.  Colonel Silas Zane took
+command, and felt confident that, although he had only twenty men under
+him, he would be able to beat off the savages.
+
+The Governor of Wheeling was Colonel Ebenezer Zane, and with two white
+men he decided to remain in his private residence, which was about
+forty yards from the fort, to prevent the ammunition which was stored
+there from falling into the hands of the Indians.  The scout who had
+brought the news of the Indians' approach was soon followed by the
+savages themselves, who, brandishing their tomahawks and waving their
+scalping-knives, instantly demanded the surrender of the white men.
+The reply they received was a volley fired at the standard which they
+bore aloft.  With a terrible war-whoop the Indians rushed to the
+assault, but the men in the fort and in the house were good shots, and
+it was rarely that one of them missed his mark.  Happily, there was a
+good stock of arms in both strongholds, and taking advantage of this,
+the women loaded the muskets and handed them to the men, who were thus
+enabled to fire quickly and were spared the fatigue of loading.
+
+Again and again the Indians attacked the house and the fort, but on
+every occasion they were driven back.  When darkness came on the
+attacks ceased, but the white men did not grow less vigilant, for they
+were confident that before daybreak the savages would make an attempt
+to surprise them.  And this proved to be the case.  In the dead of
+night one of the defenders espied an Indian crawling towards the house.
+He watched him until he rose to his feet and kindling a torch that he
+carried, attempted to set fire to the building.  Then the watcher
+fired, and the Indian dropping his torch fled, wounded.
+
+At daybreak it was seen that the Indians were still surrounding the
+fort and the house, and that they were evidently unusually excited.
+Could they have captured any of the defenders?  Enquiries shouted from
+the fort to the house elicited the assurance that no one was missing.
+
+Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion at the spot when the Indians
+were thickest, and the surprised white men could see that several of
+the enemy had been killed and many injured.  The explosion was caused
+in this way: On the preceding evening, after the firing had ceased,
+some of the Indians surprised a boat ascending the river with cannon
+balls for the fort.  The boatman escaped, but the cannon balls fell
+into the hands of the Indians, who believed that all they now wanted to
+demolish the house and fort was a cannon.  Therefore they decided to
+make one.  They procured a log of wood, bound it tightly with chains,
+and then made a hole in it large enough to admit the ball.  Then they
+charged it heavily, and when it was pointed towards the fort the match
+was applied.  Instantly the cannon burst, killing many of the men who
+stood near and injuring others.
+
+This accident did not, as one might suppose, dishearten the Indians.
+On the contrary, it excited them to further efforts to capture the
+whites.  Maddened with excitement they rushed boldly forward to the
+attack, but the steady, deadly fire which the defenders maintained
+drove them back time after time.
+
+But now the defenders in the fort began to get anxious, for their stock
+of gunpowder was nearly exhausted.  There was a plentiful supply at the
+house, and someone would have to undertake the perilous task of running
+to it and returning under fire with a keg of powder.  There were plenty
+of volunteers for this dangerous undertaking, but among them was a
+woman--Elizabeth Zane, the youngest sister of the two Colonels Zane.
+She had been educated in Philadelphia, and until her arrival at
+Wheeling, a few weeks previously, had experienced none of the hardships
+of frontier life.  But now, in the hour of danger, she was brave as if
+she had been brought up in the midst of stirring scenes.
+
+It was pointed out to her that a man would run less risk than she, from
+the fact of his being able to run faster; but she answered that if he
+were shot in the act, his loss would be severely felt.  'You have not
+one man to spare, she declared.  'A woman will not be missed in the
+defence of the fort.'
+
+The men did not like the idea of allowing her to run so great a risk,
+but she overcame their objections, and started on her perilous journey.
+
+The moment the gate was opened she bounded through, and ran at full
+speed towards the house.  Surprised at her sudden appearance in the
+open, the Indians seized their muskets, but quickly recognizing that
+she was a woman they exclaimed, 'Only a squaw,' and did not fire.
+
+Arriving at the house she announced to Colonel Ebenezer Zane the object
+of her journey, whereupon he fastened a table-cloth around her waist,
+and emptied a keg of powder into it.
+
+The moment that she appeared again in the open, the Indians noticed the
+table-cloth around her waist, and, guessing at once that she was
+carrying to the fort something that was necessary for its defence;
+promptly opened fire on her.  Undeterred by the bullets which whizzed
+past her Elizabeth Zane ran quickly towards the fort; and reached it in
+safety.  It is needless to say that the brave young woman received an
+enthusiastic greeting from the garrison who had witnessed with
+admiration her daring act.
+
+The defenders of the fort, their stock of ammunition replenished,
+fought with renewed confidence when the Indians again attacked, and
+repulsed them with a deadly fire.  As time went on the assaults became
+less frequent, and on the third night they finally ceased.  The task of
+massacring the settlers of Wheeling had, contrary to the Indians'
+expectation, been too formidable for them, and therefore they raised
+the siege and crept quietly away by night.  Their losses had been
+great, but during the three days' fighting the casualties of the
+defenders were only two men wounded.
+
+
+
+
+NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED
+
+In the tiny cabin of a canal-boat which had but recently started on its
+long journey from the Midlands to London, lay a woman seriously ill.
+And by her side lay her two days' old baby.  Her husband was on deck
+steering the boat, but every few minutes he hurried down to see if
+there were anything he could do to make his wife comfortable.  He could
+do but little, however.
+
+Never before had he felt so helpless; never had he experienced so
+acutely the isolation of barge-life.  The district through which he was
+travelling was thinly populated, and to obtain a doctor the bargeman
+would have to trudge some miles across country, leaving his wife alone
+on the canal.  He could not leave her unattended, and consoled himself
+with the hope that before long he would meet someone whom he could send
+for a doctor.  But he was disappointed; he met no one.
+
+At last he arrived at Stoke Bruerne, in Northamptonshire, and, having
+tied up his barge, hurried to the post-office--a little general shop
+kept by Mrs. Nellie Amos, who was well-known to the canal boatmen.  He
+told her of his wife's illness, and asked her if she would be good
+enough to come to his barge and see if she could discover the nature of
+her illness.  Without the slightest hesitation Mrs. Amos accompanied
+the man to his barge, and found his wife very feverish.
+
+Mrs. Amos could not discover what was the matter with the invalid, but
+one thing was very plain to her--the poor woman could not be expected
+to get well in her present quarters.  The cabin was low-roofed, about
+eight feet by six in size, and near the door stood the stove in which
+the meals were cooked.  In such close quarters the sick woman had
+little chance of recovery, and Mrs. Amos did not conceal this fact from
+the husband.  She told him also that if a doctor would certify that she
+could be removed with safety, she would take her to her house and nurse
+her and the baby.  As soon as the bargeman hurried away to fetch a
+doctor, Mrs. Amos made the sick woman some beef-tea, tidied the bed,
+and took charge of the baby.
+
+The doctor was soon with the patient, and, having examined her, gave
+his permission for her removal to Mrs. Amos's house, to which she was
+quickly taken.  Mrs. Amos had a husband and six children, and her house
+was a small one; but nevertheless she was able to give the mother and
+baby a comfortable room.  Day after day she nursed them tenderly, but
+to her surprise the mother did not show any signs of improvement.  The
+doctor came regularly to see her, and one day, when he had been
+attending her for about a week, he announced that she was suffering
+from small-pox.
+
+For a few minutes Mrs. Amos was overcome with horror at the danger to
+which she had unintentionally subjected her six children.  Nearly all
+of them had nursed the baby and waited on the sick woman, and it seemed
+to her certain that they would be stricken down with the disease.  It
+would probably spread through the village, and she would be the cause
+of the sorrow that would ensue.
+
+These fears she soon overcame, and bravely faced the danger.  She
+declared that she would not have the poor creature removed from the
+house unless the doctor insisted upon it, and that she would continue
+to nurse her.  The patient was allowed to remain, but steps were, of
+course, taken to guard against the disease spreading.  The shop was
+closed, and Mrs. Amos's only means of earning a living was gone, at any
+rate for a time.  Her children were sent away, and watched carefully
+for any signs of the disease appearing in them.  Anxiety concerning her
+own family and the loss occasioned by the suspension of her business
+might well have made her willing to hand over to the local medical
+authorities the innocent cause of her trouble.  But Mrs. Amos would not
+relinquish her self-imposed duty.  She nursed mother and child as
+tenderly as if they had been her relatives, and if it had been possible
+to save their lives they would have been saved.  The child died, and a
+week later the woman herself passed away.  Happily, neither Mrs. Amos
+nor any of her children contracted the disease.
+
+'I prayed earnestly that God would spare the village,' Mrs. Amos told
+the writer of this book, 'and He did.  Not one case resulted from it.'
+
+It was some time before the little shop was re-opened, but many people,
+hearing of Mrs. Amos's bravery, came forward to help her tide over her
+difficulties.  The landlord set a good example by sending her a receipt
+for rent which she had been unable to pay, and several Brentford
+ladies, having been told of her conduct by Mr. R. Bamber, the London
+City missionary to bargemen, presented her with a tea and coffee
+service.
+
+
+
+
+ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED
+
+Anna Gurney was a cripple from her birth.  Unable to walk, and
+consequently debarred nearly all the pleasures of childhood, it would
+not have been surprising had she become a sad, peevish woman.  The fact
+that her parents were rich, and able to supply her with comforts such
+as poor cripples could not receive, may have prevented her from
+becoming depressed, but it must be remembered also that the knowledge
+that they were in a position to give her every reasonable pleasure a
+girl could desire might well have caused her to be continually
+deploring her crippled condition.
+
+She did not, however, brood over her infirmity, and although she was
+never entirely free from pain, she was always bright and happy.
+Intellectually clever, she was ever anxious for self-improvement, and
+her knowledge of languages was remarkable.  No sooner had she become
+thoroughly conversant with one than she began to learn another.
+
+Early in life she became deeply interested in foreign missions, and in
+after years was a generous supporter of them.  Her desire to do good
+was not, however, satisfied by the money she gave to various societies,
+and being unable to offer herself as a missionary to the heathen, she
+found a sphere of usefulness in working to improve the moral and
+spiritual condition of the poor of Cromer.  She invited the mothers to
+her home, North Repps Cottage, and held classes for young men, young
+women and children.  Humble visitors were continually calling to tell
+her of their joys or sorrows, and were never refused admittance.  She
+might be busy in her library or suffering acute pain, but with a bright
+smile she would wheel herself forward in her mechanical chair to greet
+her visitor.
+
+The fishermen along the coast regarded her with reverence, for she was
+their friend, adviser and patron.  For many years she could be seen
+almost daily on the foreshore with a little group of weather-beaten men
+around her.  She knew the dangers and disappointments of their calling,
+and was genuinely delighted whenever she heard that the fleet had
+returned with a good catch.  And when the boats were out and a storm
+sprang up, she was anxious as any fish-wife for their safety.  At her
+own expense she provided a lifeboat and complete apparatus for saving
+life, and, with the thoroughness characteristic of her, she made
+herself at once acquainted with the proper working of it.
+
+Whenever there was a shipwreck, she would be down on the shore giving
+directions for the rescue of the people aboard the vessel.  No matter
+the weather or the hour, she was always on the spot.  Many a time the
+news came to her in the middle of the night that there was a ship in
+distress, and in a few minutes her man was wheeling her quickly down to
+the shore.  The wind might be howling, the rain falling in torrents,
+but this did not deter her from being at her self-appointed post.  When
+she first came out in rough weather, the fishermen begged her to return
+home, but they soon discovered that she was determined to remain.
+
+When the boat had been launched she would remain in the cold, waiting
+anxiously for its return.  Often she was in great pain, but only her
+attendant was aware of this.  To the fisher-folk she would be cheerful,
+and express confidence that her lifeboat would rescue all aboard the
+ship.  And when the lifeboat did return with the rescued people, who
+were sometimes half dead from exposure, there was more self-imposed
+work for her.  She superintended the treatment of the shipwrecked folk,
+and arranged where they were to be taken.  Many were removed to her own
+house, and kept there until they were able to proceed to their homes or
+to London.  So kindly were the rescued people treated, that it became a
+saying along the East Coast, that to be taken care of by Miss Gurney,
+it was worth while being shipwrecked.
+
+Anna Gurney died at Cromer in June, 1857, aged sixty-one.  She was
+buried in Overstrand Churchyard, being carried to her last
+resting-place by fishermen who had known and loved her for many years.
+The news of her death had spread rapidly along the coast, and over a
+thousand fishermen were present at her funeral.  Their sorrow was
+great, and they were not ashamed to show it.
+
+The following lines, written by Anna Gurney on the death of a friend
+whom she dearly loved, might truly have been her own epitaph;--
+
+  Within this frame, by Jesu's grace,
+  High gifts and holy held their place;
+  A noble heart, a mighty mind,
+  Were here in bonds of clay confined.
+
+
+
+
+GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER
+
+There was rejoicing at Redbraes Castle, Berwickshire, in February,
+1676, for Sir Patrick Hume had returned home after seventeen months'
+imprisonment in Stirling Castle.
+
+No one was more delighted at his return than his little ten years' old
+daughter, Grizel, who loved him dearly, and was proud that he had
+suffered imprisonment for conscience sake.  He had been imprisoned as
+'a factious person,' because he refused to contribute to the support of
+the soldiers stationed in the country for the suppression of the
+meetings of the Covenanters.
+
+Grizel was a very intelligent child, and surprised her father by her
+knowledge of the political events of the day, and her detestation of
+the Government.  Some men would have been simply amused at her interest
+in politics, but Sir Patrick saw that she was an exceptionally clever
+child, and told her many things which he would have confided to few of
+her seniors.  One thing that he told her was of his desire to get a
+letter conveyed to his friend Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode, who was
+confined in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for rescuing a minister--his
+brother-in-law--from the hands of the Government's servants.
+
+Grizel at once volunteered to take the letter, and having overcome her
+father's objections to sending her on such a dangerous mission, she
+started on her long journey to Edinburgh, which she reached without
+mishap.
+
+Being at Edinburgh she had now to devise some means of getting into
+Robert Baillie's prison.  For a child of her age to outwit the prison
+officials one would think an impossibility; but she did.  Joanna
+Baillie states that she slipped in, noiselessly and unobserved, behind
+the jailer, and hid in a dark corner until he withdrew, when she
+stepped forward and presented the letter to the astonished prisoner.
+Whether or not this be true, it is a fact that she gained admission to
+the prison, delivered her letter, and escaped with the reply.
+
+Two years later, Sir Patrick Hume was again arrested, and although he
+was neither tried nor told of what he was accused, he was kept in
+prison for fifteen months.  At first he was confined at Edinburgh, but
+afterwards he was removed to Dumbarton Castle.
+
+At both of these places Grizel was allowed to visit him, but the
+authorities never suspected that such a child would be used as a
+political messenger.  In the presence of the jailer she would give Sir
+Patrick news of home.  She showered kisses upon him, and delivered
+loving messages from her mother, sisters, and brothers.  But when the
+jailer had withdrawn she gave her father an account of the movements of
+his political friends, and delivered many important verbal messages,
+which they had entrusted to her.  By her means Sir Patrick was kept
+informed of his friends' actions, and was able to assist them by his
+advice.
+
+On being released from Dumbarton Castle he returned to his home in
+Berwickshire, and for a time led a peaceful life, conscious that the
+Government would have him arrested again if they could find a pretext
+for doing so.
+
+In October, 1683, information was brought to him that his friend,
+Robert Baillie, had been arrested in London, and imprisoned for alleged
+connection with the Rye House Plot.  Sir Patrick's friendship for
+Robert Baillie was well known, and Grizel feared that her father would
+soon be arrested on a similar charge.  Sir Patrick was of the same
+opinion, but the Government did not act with the promptitude he had
+expected.
+
+It was not until nearly a year had elapsed that a lady sent word to him
+that soldiers had arrived at her house, and that she had discovered
+that they were on their way to arrest him.  Instant flight was
+imperative, for there was no place in Redbraes Castle in which he could
+conceal himself from soldiers skilled in searching for enemies of the
+Government.  His wife and Grizel--the only people in the castle who
+knew of his danger--discussed with him the most likely means of
+escaping detection, and finally it was decided that he should hide in
+the family vault in Polwarth Church, which stood about a mile and a
+half from Redbraes Castle.
+
+In the middle of the night Grizel and a carpenter named Winter carried
+bed and bedding to the vault.  It was a weird hiding-place for Sir
+Patrick, as the vault was littered with the skulls and bones of his
+ancestors.  Grizel shuddered at the sight, but she knew that the vault
+was the only place which the soldiers would be unlikely to search.
+
+They arrived at Redbraes Castle confident that they would find Sir
+Patrick there, and great was their surprise when they searched it from
+cellar to turret without finding him.  Even then they would not believe
+that he had escaped them, so they made a second and still more thorough
+search.  Every cottage, stable, and shed in the neighbourhood of the
+castle was searched, but no one examined the vaults in Polwarth Church.
+
+Sir Patrick Hume was safe from discovery in his gruesome hiding-place,
+but he could not live without food, and the difficulty was to convey it
+to him without being detected.
+
+This dangerous task Grizel, now nineteen years of age, undertook, and
+every night, when all in the castle but herself were asleep, she crept
+out with a stock of provisions for her father, and trudged the mile and
+a half of country which lay between the castle and Polwarth Church.
+
+It was a trying journey for Grizel, for not only had she to fear being
+seen by the soldiers, or some villager out late on poaching bent, but
+she believed implicitly in ghosts--as did the majority of people in
+those days.  Frequently she was startled by the cry of a bird aroused
+by her footsteps, and on several occasions a dog detected her, and
+barked furiously.
+
+It can easily be understood that Grizel's visits were a great comfort
+to Sir Patrick, for she was the only person who ventured to go to him.
+She would spread out on the little table in the vault the provisions
+which she had brought him, and while he ate his supper she amused him
+by humorously relating the difficulties she met in obtaining them.
+Lady Hume, Winter and herself were the only people who knew that Sir
+Patrick was in the neighbourhood.  Grizel's brothers and sisters and
+the servants believed that he had fled from the country, and Grizel was
+very anxious that they should not be undeceived, for the children might
+unintentionally divulge the secret, and among the servants there were,
+possibly, some who would be ready to earn a reward by betraying their
+master.
+
+But her fear of admitting the children and servants into her secret
+made the task of obtaining provisions exceedingly difficult.  Had they
+seen her taking food into her room, they would at once have suspected
+that it was for her father, and that he was somewhere close at hand.
+The only way in which she could get the food she required for him was
+by slipping some of her dinner from her plate into her lap.  This was
+not an easy thing to do without being detected by some of her brothers
+and sisters, of whom there were many at table, she being the eldest but
+two of eighteen children.  Once she feared that she had been
+discovered.  Her mother had given her a large helping of chicken,
+knowing well that the greater portion of it would be taken that night
+to Sir Patrick.  One of Grizel's younger brothers had noticed the large
+helping she had received, and was somewhat jealous that he had not been
+served as liberally.  A few moments later he glanced again at her
+plate, and saw to his surprise that it was nearly empty.
+
+With a brother's acknowledged right to make personal remarks, he loudly
+called attention to the fact that Grizel had eaten nearly all her big
+helping before anyone else had scarcely started.  Lady Hume promptly
+reprimanded the boy, and ordered him to confine his attention to his
+own plate.  The youngster made no further remarks concerning his
+sister's appetite, but Grizel often found him glancing at her during
+meals, and was in constant fear that he would detect her slipping the
+food into her lap.
+
+After giving her father the day's news of home and political events she
+would start on her return journey, leaving Sir Patrick alone for
+another twenty-four hours in his gruesome hiding-place.  Many men would
+have been driven out of their mind by a month's sojourn in a
+skull-and-bone-littered tomb, but Sir Patrick was a man of high
+spirits, and his daughter never once found him depressed.  During a
+previous imprisonment he had committed to memory Buchanan's translation
+of the Psalms, and he obtained much comfort from repeating them while
+in the Polwarth vault.
+
+One day as he sat at his little table deep in thought he fancied that
+he saw a skull lying on the floor move slightly.  He watched it, and
+saw to his surprise that it was undoubtedly moving.  He was not
+alarmed, but stretching out his cane turned over the skull and startled
+a mouse from underneath it.
+
+Grizel was determined that her father should not remain in the vault
+longer than was absolutely necessary, and with the assistance of the
+trusty Winter was preparing a hiding-place for him at the castle.
+There was a room on the ground floor, the key of which was kept by
+Grizel, and under this they dug a big hole with their bare hands,
+fearing that the sound of a spade, if used, would be heard.  Night
+after night, when all but they two were asleep, they scratched out the
+earth, and placed it on a sheet spread on the floor.  Then, when their
+night's work was done, they silently opened the window and emptied the
+earth into the garden  The hole in the floor they covered by placing a
+bed over it.
+
+At last, when Grizel's finger nails were worn almost completely away,
+the subterranean hiding-place was finished, Winter placing in it a
+large box which he had made for the purpose.  Inside the box was a bed
+and bedding, and fresh air was admitted through holes pierced in the
+lid and sides.  In this box Sir Patrick was to hide whenever the
+soldiers searched the house.
+
+But before telling her father that he could with safety return home
+Grizel examined the underground room daily, to see that it was not
+flooded.  Feeling confident at last that the water would not percolate,
+she told Sir Patrick of the hiding-place prepared for him, and during
+the night he crept back to the castle.
+
+When he had been there a week without anyone but Grizel, her mother,
+and Winter knowing of his presence, the water burst through into the
+subterranean room and flooded the box.  Grizel was for a few minutes
+terror-stricken, for if the soldiers paid another visit to the castle,
+there would be nowhere for her father to hide, and he would be
+captured.  She hurried to him to advise him to return that night to the
+vault; but being an active man he disliked the prospect of prolonged
+idleness, and decided to make an attempt to escape to Holland, where
+many of his political friends had already found safety.
+
+Grizel now set to work to alter her father's clothes, so that he might
+appear to be a man of humble station.  Throughout the day and all
+through the night she plied her needle, but her task was not finished
+when the news reached the castle that Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode had
+been executed at Edinburgh.  Knowing that her father would meet a
+similar fate if captured, she finished his disguise quickly, and urged
+his instant flight.  He acted on her advice, and had not been gone many
+hours before the soldiers arrived and searched the castle thoroughly.
+
+After some narrow escapes from being recognised and arrested Sir
+Patrick arrived at London, and crossed to France, making his way thence
+to Holland.  But before he had been there long he was declared a rebel,
+and his estates confiscated.  Lady Hume and her children were turned
+out of the castle, and found themselves almost penniless.  Grizel and
+her mother, financially assisted by some friends, journeyed to London,
+to petition the Government for an allowance out of the confiscated
+estates, and after much difficulty succeeded in obtaining a paltry
+pittance of L150 a year.
+
+Sir Patrick's hatred of the Stuarts was naturally increased by the
+treatment his wife and children had received at their hands, and he
+threw himself heart and soul into the conspiracy for invading England
+and Scotland.  He took part, under the Duke of Argyle, in the invasion
+of Scotland, and on the failure of the enterprise remained in hiding
+until he found an opportunity to escape to Ireland, and thence to
+Holland _via_ France.  Here Lady Hume, Grizel, and all the children but
+one soon joined him.
+
+Sir Patrick had very little money at this time, and Grizel was soon
+sent back to Scotland to attend to some business on his behalf, and
+collect money owing to him.  She was also to bring back with her a
+sister who had been left with friends in Scotland.
+
+Grizel having performed the business entrusted to her, sailed for
+Holland with her sister, but before they had been at sea many hours a
+terrible storm arose, which, of course, considerably prolonged the
+voyage.  This would not have been a great hardship, had the captain
+been an ordinary man.  He happened to be a cowardly bully, and being
+short of food for himself, he forcibly took from Grizel and her sister
+the biscuits which they had brought aboard for their own use.  These he
+ate in their presence.  But this was not the worst.  Grizel had paid
+for a cabin bed for herself and sister, but the captain appropriated
+it, and they were compelled to sleep on the floor.  However, they
+arrived in safety at their destination, and Sir Patrick was exceedingly
+pleased with the way in which Grizel had transacted his business.
+
+The three years and a half which followed were comparatively uneventful
+for the British exiles in Holland.  Grizel devoted herself almost
+entirely to domestic duties, for her father was too poor to keep
+servants, and the only assistance she had was from a little girl who
+was paid to come in daily to wash the plates and dishes.  Every morning
+she rose at six o'clock, and was busy until she retired to bed at
+night.  She washed and dressed the children, assisted her father in
+teaching them, mended their clothes, and performed other duties which
+it would be tedious to enumerate.  The few hours during which she
+managed to be free from domestic duties she devoted to practising music
+and studying French and German.
+
+Grizel was now a beautiful young woman, and her gentle manner and
+sweetness made her a favourite of all with whom she came into contact.
+Two Scotch exiles fell in love with her, but she declined their offers
+of marriage, greatly to the surprise of her father, who did not know
+that she was the promised wife of another man--George Baillie, son of
+his old friend Robert Baillie.  George and Grizel had known each other
+for many years.  George was visiting his father in prison at Edinburgh
+when Grizel, to the surprise of both of them, slipped out from a dark
+corner and delivered her father's letter.
+
+The bravery of the little girl made a lasting impression on the boy,
+and during the troublous years that followed he managed to see her on
+several occasions.  Each liked the other, and their liking changed to
+love long before they were out of their teens.  George's estates had
+been confiscated, and he was serving as a private in the Prince of
+Orange's Guards, where he had for his chum one of Grizel's brothers.
+When off duty he was frequently at the Humes' house, and there, one
+day, Grizel promised to become his wife.  They kept their engagement a
+secret, for Grizel did not wish it to be known until the good days,
+which she was convinced were in store for Great Britain, arrived.
+
+The good days came at last.  The Prince of Orange's troops landed at
+Torbay, and the last of the Stuart kings fled from the land he had
+misruled.  Honours were now conferred upon the men who had suffered at
+the hands of Charles II. and James II.  Sir Patrick Hume had his
+estates restored to him, and was created Lord Polwarth.  Six years
+later he was made Earl of Marchmont and Lord Chancellor of Scotland.
+The queen greatly admired Grizel, and asked her to become one of her
+maids of honour, but she declined the offer, as George Baillie, whose
+estate had been restored to him, wanted her to fulfil her promise.  She
+was quite willing to do so, and they were married on September 17, 1692.
+
+In 1703 Lady Hume died.  On her death-bed she looked at those standing
+around her and asked anxiously 'Where is Grizel?'  Grizel, who had been
+standing back so that her beloved mother should not see her tears, came
+forward at once.  'My dear Grizel,' Lady Hume said, holding her by the
+hand, 'blessed be you above all, for a helpful child you have been to
+me.'
+
+Grizel's married life was exceedingly happy, and lasted for forty-six
+years.  She often declared that during those years she and her husband
+never had the slightest quarrel or misunderstanding.  Throughout her
+married life she was indefatigable in good works for the poor, and she
+continued her kindly deeds after her husband's death.  The rebellion of
+1745 caused much distress in her native land, and her money was given
+freely to the ruined of both parties.  Her own income had been greatly
+reduced, as her impoverished tenants were unable to pay her, and soon
+she found herself pressed for money.  All that she had possessed had
+been given to those in distress, and now, in her eighty-first year, she
+was unable to pay for the common necessaries of life.  She called
+together the tradesmen, whom she had hitherto paid promptly, and told
+them that she was now poor, and would have to remain so until her
+tenants were prosperous enough to pay their rents.  Perhaps they would
+not be in a position to do so during her lifetime, and she left it to
+them, the tradesmen, to decide whether or not they would continue to
+serve her, and run the risk of not being paid.  Unanimously and
+promptly the tradesmen declared that, as heretofore, she should have
+the best of their stock.  Joanna Baillie gives their reply in the
+following lines:--
+
+  No, noble dame! this must not be.
+  With heart as warm and hand as free
+  Still thee and thine we'll serve with pride,
+  As when fair fortune graced your side.
+  The best of all our stores afford
+  Shall daily smoke upon thy board;
+  And should'st thou never clear the score,
+  Heaven, for thy sake, will bless our store.
+
+
+The tradesmen were paid eventually, but not by Lady Grizel Baillie, for
+she died on December 6, 1746, before prosperity came to her tenants.  A
+long life had been given her, and she had spent it nobly exhibiting all
+the good qualities which a woman should possess.
+
+
+
+
+LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE
+
+One morning in the spring of 1638 a large number of people had
+assembled at a Richmond Church to witness the marriage of John
+Hutchinson, eldest son of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, with Lucy Apsley, the
+daughter of Sir Allen Apsley.  The bride, who was only eighteen years
+of age, was, according to her contemporaries, exceedingly beautiful and
+very accomplished; her future husband was learned, well-bred and
+handsome.  Both had a host of friends, and thus it was that a large
+crowd had gathered at the church to witness their marriage.
+
+The time for the bride to arrive at the church had come; but she was
+not there.  Minutes passed, and soon a messenger arrived with the news
+that the marriage would not take place that day.  'But why was it
+postponed?'  This was the question which the disappointed friends
+asked, and the answer was soon forthcoming.
+
+Lucy Apsley had been seized with small-pox on her wedding morning.  In
+those days small-pox was far more feared than it is at the present
+time, and the crowd quickly dispersed, some of the people fearing that
+the messenger who brought the bad news might also have brought the
+dreaded disease.
+
+For some time it was thought that Lucy Apsley would die from the
+complaint, but she recovered.  There were many people, however, who
+declared that it would have been better if she had died, for the once
+beautiful girl was now much disfigured, and the Society gossips
+expressed their confidence that John Hutchinson would never marry her.
+
+It was unjustifiable for these people to talk of John Hutchinson as if
+he were a scoundrel, for he was a manly, honourable, young fellow, and
+quite unlikely to refuse to marry Lucy Apsley because she had lost her
+beauty.  He told her that he was thankful to God for having spared her,
+and urged her to marry him as soon as it was possible.
+
+They were married at St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, on July 3, 1638, the
+bride presenting such a shocking appearance that the clergyman who
+performed the ceremony could not look at her a second time.  It is
+highly satisfactory to be able to say that in the course of time Lucy
+Hutchinson regained some of her beauty; but the contemporary writer's
+statement that she became as beautiful as ever she had been must be
+received with a certain amount of doubt.
+
+However, it is not for her beauty but for her bravery that Lucy
+Hutchinson deserves to be remembered.  When she had spent a few happy
+years of married life, the troubles which ended in the execution of
+Charles I. began.  It was impossible for any man or woman to refrain
+from siding with one or the other party in this momentous struggle, for
+any person who claimed to be neutral would have been suspected by both
+parties.  Lucy Hutchinson's husband was of a studious disposition, and
+had little taste for the frivolities and dissipation in which the
+majority of men of his position indulged, and it is therefore not
+surprising that, when it became necessary to take part in the struggle,
+he determined to espouse the cause of the Parliamentary party.
+
+This step caused Lucy Hutchinson some sorrow, for her brother and many
+other members of her family were fighting for King Charles.  However,
+she felt that it was her duty to hold the same political opinions as
+her husband, and she became a staunch Parliamentarian.
+
+The Cavaliers, hearing that John Hutchinson had proclaimed sympathy
+with the Roundheads, decided to take him prisoner immediately, but
+warning of their intention reached him, and he fled to Leicestershire.
+Lucy joined him at the earliest opportunity, but they had little peace,
+for the Cavaliers were constantly in search of John Hutchinson.
+
+After fleeing from place to place he arrived at Nottingham, soon after
+the battle of Edgehill.  The Cavaliers were on their way to take
+possession of Nottingham, and John Hutchinson and others urged the
+citizens to defend the town.  The militia was organised, and John
+Hutchinson was appointed a lieutenant-colonel.
+
+Lucy Hutchinson was at this time living at their home at Owthorpe, but
+her husband, thinking that she would be safer in Nottingham than alone
+in a neighbourhood which abounded with Royalists, sent a troop of horse
+to remove her by night.  It was an adventurous journey, but was
+accomplished safely.  Finding that the citizens of Nottingham were
+prepared to offer a determined resistance, the Cavaliers did not attack
+the town, but passed on with the intention of returning later to
+capture it.
+
+The citizens of Nottingham, pleased with the energy shown by Colonel
+Hutchinson, elected him Governor of Nottingham Castle.  It was a high
+post for a man only twenty-seven years of age, but Colonel Hutchinson
+soon proved that he was well fitted for it  The castle, although
+standing in an excellent position, was in a dilapidated condition and
+required much strengthening before it could be considered strong enough
+to withstand a determined attack.  The required alterations were
+carried out under Colonel Hutchinson's supervision, and at length all
+that was needed to withstand a siege was a stock of provisions and a
+larger garrison.  These, however, the governor could not obtain.
+
+A period of waiting followed.  Again and again the rumour spread that
+the Cavaliers were approaching to capture the castle, but they did not
+attack it.  Their guns were heard in the distance, but for some reason
+known only to themselves they did not deliver the long-expected
+assault.  Lucy Hutchinson had an unenviable time.  Loving a peaceful,
+domestic life, she was compelled to live in the midst of turmoil.  She
+saw to the feeding of the soldiers, a trying task considering that so
+far the Parliamentary party had allowed her husband nothing whatever
+towards defraying the cost of maintaining the garrison, and that the
+stock of provisions was running low.  Moreover she was often troubled
+concerning the safety of her relatives.  Her eldest brother, Sir Allen
+Apsley, of whom she was exceedingly fond, was fighting gallantly for
+the king, and believing that the Parliamentarians would triumph, she
+feared that if he escaped death on the battle-field, it would only be
+to suffer imprisonment and the confiscation of his estate.
+
+At last, in 1644, the Earl of Newcastle sent a messenger to Colonel
+Hutchinson calling upon him to surrender Nottingham Castle to the
+Royalists, a demand that was promptly refused.  'If his lordship would
+have that poor castle,' the colonel said to the messenger, 'he must
+wade to it in blood.'
+
+The messenger departed, and Colonel Hutchinson made preparations to
+withstand a siege.  Greatly to his surprise, however, the attempt on
+the castle was not made, the Earl of Newcastle having been compelled to
+march his forces to the assistance of Royalists in another part of the
+country.
+
+Before long, however, the citizens of Nottingham veered round to the
+Royalist party, and decided to betray the town.  One night they
+secretly admitted 600 Cavaliers, commanded by Colonel Hutchinson's
+cousin, Sir Richard Byron, and before daybreak the town was in their
+hands.  But not the castle.  With only eighty men, Colonel Hutchinson
+determined to hold it against the enemy until not a man remained alive.
+His force should have been much larger, but many of his men had on the
+previous evening quitted the castle without permission and entered the
+town.  While enjoying themselves the Cavaliers arrived and made them
+prisoners.
+
+Among the Parliamentarians who were taken prisoners in Nottingham were
+the surgeons, and the defenders of the castle entered into the fight
+with the unpleasant belief that if they were wounded there would be no
+one to attend to their wounds.
+
+They were mistaken.  When the battle had been raging for some minutes,
+and the wounded defenders were being removed from further danger, Lucy
+Hutchinson came forward, and skilfully and tenderly dressed their
+wounds.  For five days, attending to the wounded was her chief duty,
+and many a poor fellow's life was saved by her promptitude and skill.
+
+One day, while resting from her labours, she saw three Royalists being
+led away to the dungeon.  They were wounded, and had been captured in
+the latest assault on the castle.  Seeing that they were wounded, Lucy
+Hutchinson at once dressed their injuries, and while thus employed one
+of her husband's officers angrily upbraided her for having pity on
+them, concluding with the assertion that 'his soul abhorred to see this
+favour to the enemies of God.'
+
+'I've done nothing but my duty,' she replied.  'These are our enemies,
+but they are also our fellow-creatures.'
+
+For five days the little band of Roundheads held out against the strong
+force of Cavaliers, and they were fully prepared for a long siege,
+when, to their surprise, they saw the enemy beat a hurried retreat.  In
+a short time they knew the cause.  A strong Parliamentary force was
+advancing to the relief of Nottingham Castle.
+
+For his good defence of the castle, Parliament ratified the appointment
+made by the citizens, and promoted Colonel Hutchinson to be governor of
+the town as well as of the castle.
+
+Unable to obtain the castle by force of arms, the Royalists now tempted
+Colonel Hutchinson, by offering him any terms he might name, if he
+would surrender it and join their party.  These attempts to suborn him
+he ignored, and held the castle for the Parliamentary party until peace
+was declared, and he was able to return with his wife and children to
+his ruined home at Owthorpe.  In the meanwhile, Lucy Hutchinson was
+anxious concerning her brother, Sir Allen Apsley, who had held
+Barnstaple for the king as gallantly as her husband had held Nottingham
+Castle for the Parliament.  He was a marked man, but Colonel Hutchinson
+used his now great influence to obtain immunity from molestation for
+the gallant Cavalier.
+
+Until the death of Cromwell, Lucy Hutchinson and her husband lived very
+happily with their children at their rebuilt Owthorpe home.  But
+immediately after that event troubles began.  The Royalists, hoping to
+bring about a restoration of monarchy, were eager to obtain arms, and
+planned a raid on Owthorpe; but their designs were repeated to Lucy
+Hutchinson by a boy who overheard the conspiracy, and when the robbers
+arrived they were speedily put to flight.
+
+As the prospects of a Restoration became greater, Lucy Hutchinson grew
+alarmed for the safety of her husband, who was one of the men who had
+signed the death-warrant of Charles I.  The friends of the exiled king
+had promised him pardon and preferment if he would become a Royalist,
+but this he had firmly declined to do.
+
+On May 29, 1660, Charles II. was restored to the throne, and little
+mercy could be expected from him by those who had signed his father's
+death-warrant.  Some of Colonel Hutchinson's friends urged him to
+follow Ingoldsby's example, and declare that Cromwell had held his hand
+and compelled him to sign it, but he rejected this advice with the
+greatest indignation.
+
+In a terrible state of anxiety Lucy Hutchinson applied to her brother
+for assistance and advice.  Sir Allen Apsley was naturally in high
+favour at court, where his gallant fight for Charles I. was well known,
+and he was glad of an opportunity to help the brother-in-law who had
+protected him in time of danger.  Moreover, there was another reason
+why he was anxious to help Colonel Hutchinson--he, Sir Allen, had
+recently married his sister.
+
+Sir Allen Apsley worked exceedingly hard to obtain his brother-in-law's
+pardon, and at last he had the joy of telling his sister that her
+husband's name was inserted in the Act of Oblivion, and his estates
+unconditionally freed to him.
+
+Great was Lucy Hutchinson's joy at the pardon of her husband, and she
+looked forward to spending the remainder of their days in peace at
+their beloved Owthorpe.  Alas! this was not to be.  There were many
+Royalists who were highly displeased at Colonel Hutchinson's receiving
+a pardon, and they determined to ruin him.  Very conveniently they
+discovered, or said that they had discovered, a Puritan plot for a
+rising, and that Colonel Hutchinson was one of the conspirators.  As
+far as Colonel Hutchinson was concerned the story was utterly untrue,
+but, nevertheless, on the strength of it, he was arrested for treason,
+carried to London and placed in the Tower.  After ten months in the
+Tower, during which his wife visited him regularly, he was removed to
+Sandown Castle, where, in a damp cell against the walls of which the
+sea washed, he contracted ague.  Lucy Hutchinson implored the governor
+to be permitted to share her husband's prison, but he refused, and
+treated both her and him with brutality.
+
+Sir Allen Apsley, hearing of the treatment accorded to his
+brother-in-law, used his influence to bring about a change in his
+condition, but the alteration came too late, and he died on September
+11, 1664.  Lucy Hutchinson was not present when he died, but the
+message he sent to her was:--'Let her, as she is above other women,
+show herself on this occasion a good Christian, and above the pitch of
+ordinary minds.'
+
+Little is known of Lucy Hutchinson after her husband's death, beyond
+that she soon sold Owthorpe, and that some years later she referred to
+herself as being in adversity.  By adversity she probably referred to
+her widowed state, for it is very unlikely that with many rich
+relatives a woman of simple tastes would be in want of money.  But of
+this we may be sure: that, whether old age found her rich or poor, it
+found her a noble-minded, Christian Englishwoman.
+
+
+
+
+LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION
+
+When Samuel White Baker decided to make an attempt to discover the
+sources of the Nile, his young wife determined to accompany him and
+share his dangers and hardships.  On April 15, 1861, they started from
+Cairo, and after a twenty-six days' journey by boat they disembarked at
+Korosko, and plunged into the dreary desert.  Their camels travelled at
+a rapid pace, but the heat was terrible, and Mrs. Baker was taken
+seriously ill before arriving at Berber.  She was, however,
+sufficiently recovered to accompany her husband when he started off
+along the dry bed of the Atbara, and soon had a novel experience, which
+Baker in _The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia_, describes as follows:--
+
+'At half-past eight I was lying half asleep upon my bed by the margin
+of the river, when I fancied that I heard a rumbling like distant
+thunder.  Hardly had I raised my head to listen more attentively, when
+a confusion of voices arose from the Arabs' camp, with the sound of
+many feet; and in a few minutes they rushed into my camp, shouting to
+my men in the darkness, "El Bahr!  El Bahr!"'[1]  The rolling flood was
+sweeping down the dry bed of the river.  'We were up in an instant.
+Many of the people were asleep on the clean sand in the river's bed;
+these were quickly awakened by the Arabs....  Hardly had they (the
+Arabs) descended, when the sound of the river in the darkness beneath
+told us that the water had arrived; and the men, dripping with wet, had
+just sufficient time to drag their heavy burdens up the bank.  All was
+darkness and confusion.  The river had arrived like "a thief in the
+night."'
+
+When daylight came a mighty river was flowing where yesterday there was
+only dry land.
+
+Proceeding to Kassala, Baker engaged additional camels and attendants,
+and then crossing the Atbara at Korasi proceeded to Sofi, where he
+decided to halt for five months.  Big game abounded, and Baker enjoyed
+excellent sport.  Shooting and studying Arabic occupied nearly all his
+attention, until Mrs. Baker was taken ill with gastric fever.  For a
+time it was not expected that she would recover; but, fortunately, she
+was spared to assist her husband in the arduous labours which followed.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Baker arrived at Khartoum on June 11, 1862, and remained
+there for six months, waiting for the rains to cease, and for the
+northerly winds to set in.  Quitting Khartoum on December 18, 1862,
+they arrived at Gondokoro on February 2, 1863.  Baker was the first
+Englishman to visit the place, and the reception which the
+slave-traders accorded him was far from cordial.  Believing him to be a
+spy of the British Government, they concealed their slaves, and waited
+anxiously for him to depart.  In the meanwhile they made friends with
+his men, sowed discontent amongst them, and succeeded in inciting them
+to make a raid for food on the natives in the next village.
+
+Baker, hearing of the proposed raid, promptly forbade it, whereupon his
+men mutinied.  Seizing the ringleader, Baker proceeded to give him a
+sound thrashing, but was at once attacked by the rest of the men, and
+would certainly have been killed had not Mrs. Baker rushed to the
+rescue.  Her sudden appearance on the scene--for it was known she was
+ill with fever--and her appeals to some of the men to help her save her
+husband caused the mutineers to hesitate.  Instantly Baker saw his
+opportunity.  'Fall in!' he commanded, and so accustomed were the men
+to obeying his orders that the majority fell in instantly.  The
+ringleader and a few others refused to obey, and Baker was about to
+administer another thrashing to the former when his wife besought him
+not to do so.  He acted on her advice, and promised to overlook the
+mutineers' conduct if they apologised, which they promptly and
+profusely did.
+
+The slave-traders now declared that they would not permit the Bakers to
+penetrate into the interior, but, ignoring the threats, husband and
+wife resumed their journey.  Soon they came into contact with a
+well-armed party of these traders, and a fight would have resulted had
+not Mrs. Baker suggested that they should make friends with the leader.
+'Had I been alone,' Baker writes, 'I should have been too proud to have
+sought the friendship of the sullen trader; and the moment on which
+success depended would have been lost....  The fate of the expedition
+was retrieved by Mrs. Baker.'
+
+It was, of course, a trying task for Mr. and Mrs. Baker to be on
+friendly terms with a slave-trader, and they both felt it to be so, but
+it was productive of good.  The slave-trader informed Baker that his
+(Baker's) men intended to mutiny and kill him and his wife.  Baker was
+on his guard, and nipped the mutiny in the bud.
+
+After many hardships and perils borne uncomplainingly by Mrs. Baker,
+they reached the territory of the King of Unyoro, where his majesty's
+brother, M'gambi, was continually asking for presents.  Having received
+a great number from Baker, M'gambi went on to demand that Mrs. Baker
+might be given to him.  'Drawing my revolver quietly, I held it within
+two feet of his chest,' Baker writes, 'and looking at him with
+undisguised contempt, I told him that if I touched the trigger, not all
+the men could save him: and that it he dared to repeat the insult I
+would shoot him on the spot.  At the same time, I explained to him that
+in my country such insolence would entail bloodshed; and I looked upon
+him as an ignorant ox who knew no better; and that this excuse alone
+could save him.  My wife, naturally indignant, had risen from her seat,
+and maddened with the excitement of the moment, she made a little
+speech in Arabic (not a word of which he understood) with a countenance
+almost as amiable as the head of Medusa.  Altogether the
+_mise-en-scene_ utterly astonished him.  The woman, Bacheta, although
+savage, had appropriated the insult to her mistress, and she also
+fearlessly let fly at him, translating as nearly as she could the
+complimentary address that "Medusa" had just delivered.
+
+Whether this little _coup de theatre_ had so impressed M'gambi with
+British female independence, that he wished to be "off his bargain," I
+cannot say; but, with an air of complete astonishment, he said; "Don't
+be angry!  I had no intention of offending you by asking for your wife;
+I will give you a wife if you want one; and I thought you had no
+objection to give me yours: it is my custom to give my visitors pretty
+wives, and I thought you might exchange.  Don't make a fuss about it;
+if you don't like it, there's an end of it: I will never mention it
+again."  This very practical apology I received very sternly.'
+
+After this interview with M'gambi, the Bakers resumed their journey,
+escorted by 300 local men, whose services Baker soon discovered it
+would be advisable to dispense with.  He was now left with only twelve
+men, and it was doubtful whether he would be able to reach his
+destination and get back to Gondokoro in time to catch the last boat to
+Khartoum that season.  If he failed to do so, it meant another year in
+Central Africa, and he did not wish his wife to endure that.  But Mrs.
+Baker was interested deeply in her husband's work, and urged him not to
+consider her health before accomplishing his task.
+
+A few days later she received a sun-stroke, and for several days lay in
+a litter in an unconscious state.  Brain fever followed, and no one
+believed that she could possibly recover.  A halt was made, and the men
+put a new handle to the pick-axe ready to dig a grave, the site of
+which had been selected.  But the preparations were premature.  Mrs.
+Baker recovered consciousness, and two days later the weary march was
+resumed, to be crowned on March 14, 1864, with success, for on that day
+they saw before them the tremendous sheet of water now well known by
+the name the discoverer gave it, there and then,--the Albert Nyanza.
+
+We can imagine Mrs. Baker's joy on finding that their expedition had
+been crowned with success, and that the perils and hardships which she
+had shared uncomplainingly with her husband had not been endured in
+vain.  It would perhaps have only been natural if she had now urged her
+husband to return to civilisation as quickly as possible, but she did
+not do so.
+
+For thirteen days they explored in canoes the eastern shore of the
+newly-discovered lake, coming at last to the mouth of Somerset or
+Victoria Nile.  Ascending the river they discovered a series of
+cataracts, ending in a magnificent fall.  These Baker named Murchison
+Falls, as a compliment to the President of the Royal Geographical
+Society.  Continuing the journey on foot, they came to a deserted
+village, where they were compelled to remain for two months through the
+treachery of the King of Unyoro.  This dusky potentate had promised
+Baker every assistance that he could give, but having decided to make
+an attack on two neighbouring tribes he asked the Englishman to
+accompany his force and fight for him.  This Baker refused to do, and,
+in revenge, the king sent secret orders to Baker's followers to desert
+him, and leave him and his wife to starve.  In a desolate spot, unable
+to obtain provisions, Mr. and Mrs. Baker existed for two months,
+growing weaker daily from fever and want of proper food.  However,
+after many attempts, Baker managed to obtain an interview with the
+king, and persuaded him to treat them humanely.  The king would not,
+however, allow them to quit his territory, and it was not until
+November, 1864, that they succeeded in escaping.
+
+After many adventures they arrived at Khartoum on May 3, 1865, where
+their arrival created great surprise among the Europeans, who had long
+since been convinced that they were dead.
+
+On reaching England in October, 1865, the Bakers were given an
+enthusiastic reception.  Various learned societies at home and abroad
+bestowed their highest honours upon Baker, and Queen Victoria conferred
+a knighthood upon him.
+
+Mrs. Baker's bravery in accompanying her husband through so many
+dangers was naturally praised by all classes, and it was felt by many
+people that some honour should be conferred upon her.  In Messrs.
+Murray and White's _Sir Samuel Baker: a Memoir_ (Macmillan), it is
+stated that Mr. W. E. Gladstone proposed that a subscription should be
+started for presenting a suitable testimonial to her.  This was,
+however, prior to her becoming Lady Baker, and perhaps it was
+considered that having received an honour the testimonial was
+unnecessary.  At any rate Mr. Gladstone's suggestion was not carried
+out.
+
+In the spring of 1869, Sir Samuel and Lady Baker returned to Africa.
+The Khedive had appointed Sir Samuel Governor-General of the Equatorial
+Nile Basin, to suppress the slave-trade, to develop the natural
+resources of the country, and open the great lakes to navigation.  This
+was a formidable task, and made more difficult by the jealousy of the
+Egyptian authorities, who neglected to give him the support which they
+should have done.
+
+For two years Sir Samuel Baker was busy fighting slave-traders and
+native tribes, and throughout this exciting period he was accompanied
+by his wife, who was subjected to the same dangers as he or any man in
+his force.  At one time she was in great danger of being laid low at
+any moment by bullet or spear.  This was during the retreat from
+Masendi, a position which Sir Samuel Baker was compelled to abandon on
+June 14, 1872.  For eighty miles the little band, composed of about 100
+men, marched in double file through tangled forest and gigantic grass,
+fighting the whole distance.  Bullets whizzed past Lady Baker, and many
+a spear went within an inch of her, but unalarmed she marched on
+_carrying ammunition_.  The enemy hoped to annihilate the party before
+it got clear of the long grass, but the determined men who were
+fighting for their lives discovered the ambuscades and drove out the
+enemy.  Night and day the hidden foe harassed the party, and Lady Baker
+knew that any moment might be her last.  Nevertheless, she trudged on
+with her burden of ammunition, and on some occasions marched sixteen
+miles at a stretch.  It was a weary march through that
+grass-jungle--which harboured hundreds of the enemy--and it seemed that
+it would never end.  To accelerate their retreat, the cattle were
+abandoned and loads of valuable goods were burnt or thrown away.  At
+times it seemed as if they could not possibly escape, and, in fact,
+news reached England that they had been slaughtered during the retreat
+from Masendi.
+
+However, they got through safely, and shortly afterwards inflicted a
+crushing defeat on the enemy.  Lady Baker was present at this battle,
+but although the bullets whizzed to the right, to the left, and above
+her, she escaped injury.  Sir Samuel not only praised her bravery, but
+he wrote of her: 'She has always been my prime minister, to give good
+counsel in moments of difficulty and danger.'
+
+On completion of the four years' service for which the Khedive had
+engaged him, Sir Samuel Baker returned with his wife to England, where
+once more they received an enthusiastic reception.  When they again
+travelled abroad it was in more civilised parts of the world, and
+unattended by the perils which had assailed them in Africa.  Sir Samuel
+Baker died on December 30, 1893, at Sandford Orleigh, near Newton
+Abbot, aged 72.  He was a brave and clever man, but not a little of his
+success was due to the fact that he had a wife who shared his ambition,
+and did all that lay in her power to bring his undertakings to a
+successful issue.
+
+
+
+[1] The river.
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+The Young Girl's Library.
+
+
+TWO GIRLS IN A SIEGE.  A Tale of the Great Civil War.  By EDITH C.
+KENYON, Author of "Queen of Nine Days," etc.  With Three Illustrations
+by J. MACFARLANE.
+
+THE SHEPHERD'S FAIRY.  By the Author of "Mr. Mygale's Hobby."  With
+Three Illustrations.
+
+MISS NETTIE'S GIRLS.  A Story of London East End Life.  By CONSTANCE
+EVELYN.  With Three Illustrations.
+
+
+GWEN'S INFLUENCE.  By FRANCES TOFT, Author of "Uncle Ronald," etc.
+With Three Illustrations by CHARLES HORRELL.
+
+CHRISTIE REDFERN'S TROUBLES.  By MRS. ROBERTSON.  With Three
+Illustrations by E. BARNARD LINTOTT, Author of "The Orphans of Glen
+Elder."
+
+ANGEL'S BROTHER.  By ELEANOR A. STOOKE, Author of "The Bottom of the
+Bread Pan."  With Three Illustrations by W. H. C. GROOME.
+
+
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.  LONDON.
+
+
+
+Popular Stories
+
+By
+
+Well-Known
+
+Writers
+
+
+
+  HESBA STRETTON
+  Mrs. O. F. WALTON
+  EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN
+  AMY LE FEUVRE
+  ETC.  ETC.
+
+
+
+  Issued by
+  The Religious Tract Society
+  4 Bouverie Street and
+  65 St. Paul's Churchyard
+  London, E.C.
+
+
+
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+
+HESBA STRETTON.
+
+
+HALF BROTHERS.  By Hesba Stretton.  With Four Illustrations by Lancelot
+Speed.
+
+CAROLA.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+COBWEBS AND CABLES.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+THROUGH A NEEDLE'S EYE.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+DAVID LLOYD'S LAST WILL.  By Hesba Stretton.  Illustrated.
+
+THE SOUL OF HONOUR.  By Hesba Stretton.  With Frontispiece.
+
+
+
+UNIFORM EDITIONS OF STORIES
+
+BY
+
+EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN.
+
+
+_Miss Everett-Green has long been known and appreciated as a practised
+and skilled writer, and while many of her tales are specially suited
+for girls, they will also be read with profit and interest by adults.
+The Society is issuing the whole series of her longer stories in a
+uniform style._
+
+
+THE CONSCIENCE OF ROGER TREHERN.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  Illustrated.
+
+JOINT GUARDIANS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+MARCUS STRATFORD'S CHARGE; or, Roy's Temptation.  By Evelyn
+Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+ALWYN RAVENDALE.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by Harold
+Copping.
+
+LENORE ANNANDALE'S STORY.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a
+Frontispiece.
+
+THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+THE MISTRESS OF LYDGATE PRIORY; or, The Story of a Long Life.  By
+Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+THE PERCIVALS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With a Frontispiece.
+
+
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+
+MRS. O. F. WALTON.
+
+AUTHOR OF 'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES.'
+
+
+THE LOST CLUE.  By Mrs. Walton.  With Illustrations by Adolf Thiede.
+
+A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+WAS I RIGHT?  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+DOCTOR FORESTER.  By Mrs. Walton.  With Four Illustrations by Ernest
+Prater.
+
+SCENES IN THE LIFE OF AN OLD ARM-CHAIR.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+OLIVE'S STORY; or, Life at Ravenscliffe.  By Mrs. Walton.  Illustrated.
+
+
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+POPULAR STORIES BY
+
+AMY LE FEUVRE.
+
+
+THE MENDER; A Story of Modern Domestic Life.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+Illustrated.
+
+ODD MADE EVEN.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  Seven Illustrations by Harold
+Copping.
+
+HEATHER'S MISTRESS.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  With Fifteen Illustrations by
+J. S. Crompton.
+
+ON THE EDGE OF THE MOOR.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+THE CARVED CUPBOARD.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+DWELL DEEP; or Hilda Thorn's Life Story.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+ODD.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  Illustrated.
+
+A LITTLE MAID.  By Amy Le Feuvre.
+
+A PUZZLING PAIR.  By Amy Le Feuvre.  With Illustrations by Eveline
+Lance.
+
+
+LONDON; THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+
+The Bouverie Florin Library.
+
+A New Series of Interesting Stories.  Each with Title-page and
+Illustrations in Colour.  Attractively bound.  Large crown 8vo, Cloth
+Gilt, 2s. each.
+
+
+THE AWAKENING OF ANTHONY WEIR.  By SILAS K. HOCKING.  With coloured and
+other illustrations.
+
+IN THE DAYS OF THE GIRONDE.  A Story for Girls.  By THEKLA.  With
+coloured illustrations by W. E. WIGFULL.
+
+MONEY AND THE MAN.  By H. M. WARD.  With coloured illustrations by A.
+TWIDLE.
+
+THE CHARIOTS OF THE LORD: A Romance of the Time of James II. and the
+coming of William of Orange.  With four coloured illustrations by ADOLF
+THIEDE.
+
+A ROSE OF YORK.  By FLORENCE BONE.  With coloured illustrations by
+DUDLEY TENNANT.
+
+THE WONDER CHILD: An Australian Story.  By ETHEL TURNER.  With coloured
+and other illustrations.
+
+FROM PRISON TO PARADISE: A Story of English Peasant Life in 1557.  By
+ALICE LANG.  With coloured and other illustrations.
+
+A HERO IN THE STRIFE.  By LOUISA C. SILKE.  With coloured frontispiece
+by J. FINNEMORE.
+
+ADNAH: A Tale of the Time of Christ.  By J. BRECKENRIDGE ELLIS.  With
+coloured title-page and frontispiece.
+
+LIVING IT OUT.  By H. M. WARD, Author of 'Money and the Man,' etc.
+With three coloured illustrations by W. E. WIGFULL.
+
+THE TROUBLE MAN: or, The Wards of St. James.  By EMILY P. WEAVER.  With
+three coloured illustrations by DUDLEY TENNANT.
+
+THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAIN.  A Stirring Tale of the Franco-German War of
+1870-1871.  By S. R. CROCKETT, Author of 'The White Plumes of Navarre,'
+'The Lilac Sunbonnet,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+THE LOST CLUE.  By Mrs. O. F. WALTON, Author of 'A Peep Behind the
+Scenes,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+LOVE, THE INTRUDER.  A Modern Romance.  By HELEN H. WATSON, Author of
+'Andrew Goodfellow,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+THE FIGHTING LINE.  By DAVID LYALL.  Author of 'The Gold that
+Perisheth,' &c.  Illustrated.
+
+THE HIGHWAY OF SORROW: A Story of Modern Russia.  By Hesba Stretton.
+With 4 Illustrations by J. Finnemore, R.I.
+
+VEILED HEARTS: A Romance of Modern Egypt.  By Rachel Willard.  With 3
+Illustrations.
+
+SUNDAY SCHOOL ROMANCES.  By Alfred B. Cooper, with 8 Illustrations.
+
+THE COSSART COUSINS.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With 4 Illustrations by
+Gordon Browne, R.I.
+
+THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR.  By Evelyn Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by
+Lancelot Speed.
+
+GREYFRIARS.  By E. Everett-Green.  With Frontispiece by Ernest Prater.
+
+PEGGY SPRY.  By H. M. Ward.  With 3 illustrations by Ernest Prater.
+
+
+
+The 'Queen' Library.
+
+A New Series of Delightful Stories for younger Girls, Each with three
+Coloured Illustrations: Large crown 8vo.  Attractively bound in Cloth
+Gilt, 2s. 6d.
+
+
+MARGARET, or, The Hidden Treasure.  By N.F.P.K.  With three coloured
+illustrations by VICTOR PROUT.
+
+AGAINST THE WORLD.  By EVELYN R. GARRATT, Author of 'Free to Serve.'
+With three coloured illustrations by J. A. SYMINGTON.
+
+LITTLE MISS.  By M. B. MANWELL, Author of 'The Captain's Bunk,'
+'Daisy's Knight,' etc.  With three coloured illustrations by F. E.
+HILEY.
+
+BELLE AND DOLLY.  By ANNE BEALE.  With three coloured illustrations by
+A. TWIDLE.
+
+
+
+LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
+
+
+
+  'BRAVE DEEDS' SERIES.
+
+  _Well Illustrated._
+
+  BRAVE DEEDS OF YOUTHFUL HEROES.
+  STRANGE TALES OF PERIL AND ADVENTURE.
+  ADVENTURES ASHORE AND AFLOAT.
+  THE ROMANCE OF REAL LIFE.
+    True Incidents in the Lives of the Great and Good.
+  WIND AND WAVE.  A Tale of the Siege of Leyden.
+  THE CRUISE OF THE 'MARY ROSE.'
+  CEDAR CREEK; Or, from Shanty to Settlement.
+  A BOOK OF HEROES;
+    Or, Great Victories in the Fight for Freedom.
+  ONCE UPON A TIME;
+    Or, The Boy's Book of Adventures.
+  THE BLACK TROOPERS.  And Other Stories.
+  A RACE FOR LIFE.  And Other Tales.
+  NOBLE DEEDS OF THE WORLD'S HEROINES.
+  THROUGH FLOOD AND FLAME.
+      Adventures and Perils of Protestant Heroes.
+  HEROES OF THE GOODWIN SANDS.
+  ON THE INDIAN TRAIL,
+      And Other Stories of the Cree and Salteaux Indians.
+  REMARKABLE ADVENTURES FROM REAL LIFE.
+  THROUGH FIRE AND THROUGH WATER.
+  FRANK LAYTON.  An Australian Story.
+  THE REALM OF THE ICE-KING.
+  THE FOSTER BROTHERS OF DOOM.
+      A Tale of the Irish Rebellion.
+  THE CAPTAIN'S STORY.
+  STEADFAST AND TRUE.
+  ADVENTURE STORIES.
+      Daring Deeds on Land and Sea.
+  HISTORICAL TALES FOR YOUNG PROTESTANTS,
+  BRAVE SONS OF THE EMPIRE.
+  THE LOG OF A SKY-PILOT;
+      Or, Work and Adventure around the Goodwin Sands.
+  SAXBY.  A Tale of the Commonwealth Time.
+  WITHIN SEA WALLS.
+
+  THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 4, BOUVERIE STREET, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines, by
+Henry Charles Moore
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOBLE DEEDS--WORLD'S HEROINES ***
+
+***** This file should be named 29286.txt or 29286.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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