A home of her own--that was what Mary longed for. She and John had
been married a few months before leaving for the field, had studied
for a term in language school, and now were living with an older
married couple until their acquaintance with the language and the
customs of the people was enough to warrant their being sent to a
station of their own. Mary found the language easy, but John found it
hard; and they had been on the field for more than two years before
their desire for a home of their own was realized. It was just as well
for Mary that she was quick with the language. Little David was born
when they had been out only a year, and looking after David meant that
she had several hours less each day for study than John had.

When they finally got to their new station, they were surprised to
find that long, uninterrupted hours for language study, which they
still needed, were almost impossible. There was a little church in the
place to which they had been sent, and of course they wanted to do
what they could, with their limited language, to help. They found a
language teacher, but he was not as good as their previous one. Mary
had a girl to help her in the house, but she was untrained, and for
the first few months Mary thought that it was more work training her
than it would have been to do the work herself. They had many
visitors, both Christians and others. John loved to sit and talk with
the men who came, and although his facility in the use of the spoken
language developed, the progress he made in the book work required by
the course of study was extremely slow. Mary often longed to shoo the
men visitors out the door, lead John into his study, set him down at
his desk, and shut him in with his books!

With the care of the baby and the responsibility for the home
devolving upon her, it was a good thing that Mary did enjoy study. She
often said that she thought the Lord gave her, as a young mother,
special help with the language, because He knew how much she had to
do! Because she was so busy, however, she often sat up later at night
over her books than was good for her health, and she became tired and
worn out. The flu came along, and she was an easy victim. Poor John!
He had to be nurse, housekeeper, and baby-tender, all at the same
time. The thing that worried Mary the most about being ill was that
she was keeping John from his studies.

Mary was not entirely back to normal health when David's little siste