blind fortune-teller to declare her
fate and give advice concerning her future. His verdict was discouraging
for he told them that she must be killed or given away to another family,
since as long as she remained in the home the long-desired son would never
come to them. The parents were not willing to end the little life, so they
determined to engage the baby to a little boy in a neighbouring family, and
give her to the family of her betrothed to bring up. But when they called
the fortune-teller again to ask his judgment on the proposed betrothal, he
declared that the little girl had been born under the dog star, the boy
under the cat star, and therefore the betrothal was not to be thought of.
The family's perplexity as to what to do with this superfluous little
daughter became known to the neighbours, and one of them, who was teaching
Chinese to Miss Howe and Miss Hoag of the Methodist Mission, told them
about it. That very afternoon they took their sedan chairs and went and got
the baby. Thus, when only two months old, Ida was adopted by Miss Howe,
whom she always calls "my mother," and of whom she says, "There is no one
like her in the world."

The same year that little Ida was born, Miss Howe and Miss Hoag had
succeeded in starting a school for girls in Kiukiang, the first girls'
school in that part of China. In this school, as soon as she was old
enough, Ida began to study. When she was nine years old Miss Howe went to
America and took the little girl with her. They were in San Francisco at
this time, and there Ida attended a mission school for the Chinese girls of
the city. As most of the other pupils belonged to Cantonese families, and
spoke a Chinese dialect very different from that of Kiukiang, she did not
learn very much at school; but her stay in America, at the age when it is
so easy for children to acquire languages, helped her very much in
learning English. On her way back to China Miss Howe stayed in Japan for
several months, and there again Ida attended school.

On returning to China, Miss Howe was asked to work in a newly opened
station of the Methodist Mission at Chung King, a city of western China,
located on the Yangtse River many miles above Kiukiang, and many days'
journey into the interior. During their stay there, Ida continued her
studies, tutored by Miss Howe and Miss Wheeler, of the same mission. The
stay in Chung King lasted only two years, for in 1886 the mission compound
was completely des