. I think you'll find him much more tractable than he
would have been had he not been through these troubles with us.

'Hsing has had the devil putting philosophic doubts into him. I
have pressed him to pelt the devil with Scripture, as our Master
did.

'Li, shoemaker, I _do_ like. He cannot stay to Sunday service. I
take him before service therefore.

'Fu does well. Last Friday he remained after prayer-meeting, and
talked till 9.40 about all manner of things secular and sacred. He
has most pleasant remembrances of Emily--Emily, too, liked him.

'Jui Wu, the powder magazine man, is in a more hopeful case. He may
come all right yet.[5]

[5] Fu is now (1892) an evangelist, and Jui Wu a dispenser, in the
Chi Chou Mission.

'Old Tai nearly went, but will now, I think, remain till you come.
He wants to tiffin with me on Sundays, and enjoys much four, five,
or six small cups of good strong tea with milk and sugar. He is
growing in grace.

'Young Tai I am detaining after his father goes and reading with
him and teaching him. He gives up his trade for the day, and I want
to give him a good day.

'Chao Erh attends well and is improved in circumstances.

'Lu Ss[)u] is in his old trade, and doing well. He comes on Sundays
when he comes. He was the man I hoped least of, and as yet he
pleases me almost most.

'Lama comes to-morrow to finish reconstructing Mongol catechism. I
may go on a two months' journey to Mongolia, starting in December.
I'll have to see the children to Tientsin in February, and want to
meet you.

'Hsues as they were.[6]

[6] Father and son; the only native preachers in the West City of
Peking at that time.

'I am very much encouraged and thankful about the little Church. I
can honestly say that I have tried to do my best for it during
your absence, and God has encouraged me a good deal in it. I have
reaped some that you have sown, and have endeavoured to sow
something for you to reap when you return.

'I sometimes have deep fits of the blues when I think of the
children, but their mother was able to trust Jesus with them, and
why should not I?

'The Mongol work, too, has entered on a new phase, and that opens
up a new future for me. It is a formidable affair. I don't think
I'll go to Kalgan or that region.