above the little rice-fields. Here and there
fairy lakes gleamed out from the rosy haze that rolled back toward
the mountains. They walked along the shore in the pink dawn-light and
marched up toward a fishing village. They had visited it before and had
been driven away, but Kai Bok-su was determined to try again. They were
surprised as they came nearer to see three men come out to meet them
with a friendly expression on their faces.

The foremost was an old man who had been nicknamed "Black-face," because
of his dark skin. The second was a middleaged man, and the third was a
young fellow about the age of the students. They saluted the travelers
pleasantly, and the old man addressed the missionary.

"You have been going through and through our plain and no one has
received you," he said politely. "Come to our village, and we will now
be ready to listen to you."

The door of Kap-tsu-lan had opened at last! The missionary's eyes
gleamed with joy and gratitude as he accepted the invitation. The
delegation led the visitors straight to the house of the headman. For
the Pepo-hoan governed their communities in the Chinese style and had a
headman for each village. The missionary party sat down in front of the
hut on some large flat stones and talked over the matter with the chief
and other important men. And while they talked "Black-face" slipped
away. He returned in a few moments with a breakfast of rice and fish for
the visitors.

The result of the conference was that the villagers decided to give
the barbarian a chance. All he wanted it seemed was to tell of this new
Jehovah-religion which he believed, and surely there could be no great
harm in listening to him talk.

In the evening the headman with the help of some friends set to work
to construct a meeting-house. A tent was erected, made from boat sails.
Several flat stones laid at one end and a plank placed upon them made
a pulpit. And that was the first church on the Kap-tsu-lan plain! There
was a "church bell" too, to call the people to worship. In the village
were some huge marine shells with the ends broken off. In the old days
these were used by the chiefs as trumpets by which they called their men
together whenever they were starting out on the war-path. But now the
trumpet-shell was used to call the people to follow the King. Just at
dark a man took one, and walking up and down the straggling village
street blew loudly--the first "church bell" in east Formosa.