s' heads and declare they would all be cut to pieces when the
barbarian ships came into port.

Every hour of the day and often in the night, letters came from all
parts of the country to Dr. Mackay. They were brought by runners
who came at great peril of their lives, and were sent by the poor
Christians. Each letter told the same tale; the lives and property of
all the converts were in grave danger if the enemy did not leave. And
they all asked Kai Bok-su to do something to help them.

Now Kai Bok-su was a man with great power and influence both in Formosa
and in his far-off Canada, but he had no means of bringing that power
to bear on the French. And indeed his own life was in as great danger as
any one's.

He wrote to the Christians comforting them and enthusing them with his
own spirit. He bade them all be brave, and no matter what came, danger
or torture or death itself, they must be true to Jesus Christ. He went
about his work in the college or hospital just as usual, though he knew
that any day the angry mob from the town below might come raging up to
destroy and kill.

The French had entered Kelung harbor and the danger was growing more
serious every day when Mackay found it necessary to go to Palm Island,
a pretty islet in the mouth of the Kelung river. It was almost courting
death to go, but he had been sent for, and he went. He found the place
right under the French guns and in the midst of raging Chinese. Some of
the faithful students were there, and they were overcome with joy and
hope at the sight of him. He gathered them about him in a mission
house for prayer and a word of encouragement. Outside the Chinese
soldiers paraded up and down. Sometimes indeed they would burst into the
room and threaten the inmates with violence should the French fire.
Kai Bok-su went on quietly talking to his students. He urged them to be
faithful and reminded them of what their Master suffered at the hands of
a mob for their sake. But, in spite of their brave spirits, the little
company could not help listening for the boom of the French guns. It was
fully expected that the enemy would soon fire, and when they did, the
Christians well knew there would be little chance for them to escape.

But God had prepared a way out of the difficulty. The meeting was
scarcely over when a messenger came in, asking for the missionary. A
Christian on the mainland was very ill and wanted Kai Bok-su to visit
him. Mackay with his students le