The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 186

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186

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

“The Bible woman, who had been the first with
the woman of the house to be attacked, had had
some bracelets torn off her arms and was also beaten
with bamboo poles; but somehow she managed to
get through them to us, and while the robbers were
busy going off with our things (for by this time
we saw that resistance was useless), she led us by
a door to another loft, and we escaped by a ladder
and out of the next house on to the hill behind the
village. We were barefooted, and with only our
night-dresses on, the robbers having stolen all our
other clothing, bedding, books, etc. We climbed up
through the wet grass and brambles, over rocks
and stones, and at last, when we thought ourselves
on a tolerably safe place, sat down in the bushes to
see how things would shape themselves. We must
have remained there over an hour, listening to the
shouting and yelling and watching the flaring lights
as the men went from house to house beating down
doors and walls and expecting each moment that
they might come out to search for us. Some of the
villagers had escaped to the opposite side of the
rayine where we were sitting, and soon we heard
them say that the robbers had left. In a few min-
utes they left off several volleys from their guns,
signs of triumph, or perhaps to intimidate any from
following them. A little later two of the Christian
men came out with lanterns to search for us and
were rejoiced to learn that we had not been carried
off by the banditti. Fortunately they were able
to find shoes for us to put on, as our feet were so
hurt that we would not have been able to get down
barefooted. 5

“We went back into the house and remained up
in the loft the rest of the night. The alarm had
been given at the nearest village, Lao-o, about ten
li distant, and a number of men started after the
_ robbers, but, of course, were unable to overtake

them. The poor villagers also had suffered much.
The robbers, they say, were armed with spears as
well as guns, and the old’man of the house where
we were staying had his arms and side badly cut.
The people’s clothing, grain, some of the cows,
and other animals were taken off, the women’s orna-
ments being torn out of their ears, hair, and hands.
“But what was most serious of all, our servant,
named Ur-yi-foh, the son of the house, and another
neighbor were nowhere to be found; they were
doubtless taken off by the banditti for the purpose
of being held for ransom. Before dawn the woman
Of the house and the Bible woman, having divested

_ themselves of some of their clothing to give us, we

Be patted for the next village, Lao-o, one of the Chris-

tians having gone some time before to try to get
chairs for us. We had only got a little distance,
when we met eight of the Christian women; from
these we got a bundle of clothing they had brought
for us. They had started off bravely with a lantern
in the dark to walk all that distance, though their
husbands had opposed their doing such a dangerous
thing. We then took chairs down to the’ creek,
which we reached about noon. Here we took a boat
for the city and arrived before daylight.

“To show that in this case we had done nothing
that might be considered dangerous or foolhardy,
I may say that, though foreigners had not been in
that particular hamlet before, the district and just
such lonely places had frequently been visited by
missionaries, and no danger was apprehended by
ourselves or any of the natives. The people of the
place have suffered most, having had nearly every-
thing they possessed carried away. What the fate
of our servant and the other two men may be we
dare not think.” F.J.L.

Items of Missionary Interest.
By the Eprror.

Kannapolis, N. C.—Superintendent F. D. Alston
writes: “On Sunday, October 23, the little congrega-
tion of Kannapolis was happy as it held its services
once more in an auditorium that was roomy enough
to hold all the hearers. The week before the people
had built a room large enough to house the pulpit,
altar, and choir, which formerly were in the main
auditorium. This little addition gives us room to
seat sixty-five more people. And if they continue to
come as they have been coming in the recent past, we
shall have all these seats occupied in a very short
time. It may be of interest to you to know that the
addition was made, and paid for, by the members of
this little church, without any help from the Board
or without curtailing the contributions in the least;
in fact, the Kannapolis people have raised their con-
tribution to the Board twice this year.—On the
first Sunday in November we shall have our jubilee
service, in which a special collection will be lifted for
the Colored Mission Treasury.”

Catherine, Ala.—A new mission-station has been
opened at this place this fall. Catherine lies on the
Southern Railway, about thirty-five miles southwest
of Selma. Miss Clara Hill, a member of the senior
class of Alabama Luther College at Selma, is teach-
ing the mission-school here. On the opening day she
already had thirty pupils. An old, dilapidated log
hut serves for a school-building.