s only on a valueless beast. In the case of
Mrs. Fan's little girl, no _gwei_ could reasonably be supposed to attach
much value to her, and it was therefore sufficient for this neighbour to
pronounce herself willing to stand in the place of a mother. She was
allowed to live, and with painful frankness given the name of "One too
many."

After the month spent in the Opium Refuge, Mrs. Fan often saw the lady
missionaries either at Hwochow or in her own house, and when they were
joined by a lady who had no previous knowledge of the Chinese language,
Mrs. Fan was asked if little "One too many" might come and live with the
missionary so that her childish prattle should help the newcomer in
recognising the difficult sounds and tones. She was now eight years old
and permission was readily granted, so to Hwochow she went and became an
inmate of the Christian household there, her name being altered to the
now appropriate one of "greatly loved"--in Chinese, Ai Do.

The years passed by, and little Ai Do won the love and approval of all.
She received her education in the girls' school, and there grew up in
her the ambition to be a teacher, as her elder sister was. At fourteen
years of age she sat one Sunday evening reading her Bible, and came to
the words: "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; man looketh on the outward
appearance, the Lord looketh on the heart." She stopped and pondered,
realising with the force that can only come with conviction of the
Spirit of God, that while in "the outward" no one had fault to find with
her, yet the Lord looking on the heart saw her full of sin and
unreconciled to Him. In that hour her peace was made, and henceforth she
served and trusted God through all the vicissitudes of her short life.
She remained a pupil in the school until the year 1900, when Miss
Stevens and Miss Clarke went to Taiyueanfu, never to return. It was a
reign of terror during which rapine and murder stalked unhindered
through the land, and young women fled to the remotest districts where
they might claim a shelter.

The matter of Ai Do's marriage had been under consideration for some
time, she having now reached the age when custom exacts that this
important matter should be settled. Various suitors presented
themselves, but in most cases there was some hitch which prevented the
engagement from being finally settled. In one case the man lived on the
other side of the river, and this would cause difficulty in the girl's
frequ