house. If the preaching were not sincere but proclaimed a Christ of
contention, it behoves us to rejoice that even so Christ was preached,
for Mr. Wang heard something of the life of Jesus, His love, and His
humility, and thought that he saw the very spirit of the doctrine
exemplified in the man who ministered to these unfortunate patients. His
heart was overwhelmed by the love of God; and the beauty of Christ,
after which he for so many years had blindly felt, lest haply he might
find, was now revealed to him. On the ninth day, for lack of money, he
was obliged to cut his treatment short and return home; but henceforth
nothing could separate him from the love of God.

The rumour of his conversion soon spread, and many visited the workshop
where the silversmith sat at his daily occupation, questioning him,
hearing his story, and taking note of the great change in him. From the
first he exercised a great influence on men, and soon a few were joining
with him morning and evening for prayer and reading of the Bible.

The last month of the year--a period dreaded by the Chinaman whose
liabilities exceed his assets--found him in great straits. A fever had
laid him low, but as soon as strength returned sufficiently to sit up in
bed and work he was plying his trade once more, and it was thus his
creditors found him when they came to press their claims.

The Chinese universal system of debt does not allow for the exercise of
mercy, as each creditor is himself a debtor, and his object in securing
payments is to relieve the pressure brought to bear on himself by his
own creditors. Nevertheless, the sight of the sick man forcing himself
to work, and the reputation he had for integrity so affected them that
they left the house again, begging him to reserve his strength and free
his mind from immediate anxiety on their account. Health and strength
finally returned, and intercourse was established with the Hwochow
missionaries, which resulted in his baptism. By the year 1900 a group of
Christian men and women formed the nucleus of a church in the village.
Mr. Wang this year became a widower for the second time, the wife he had
taken some years previously dying in childbirth, leaving him the care of
two small children. The newborn babe it was impossible for him to rear,
and he gave it away to a friend whose wife had lost her own child and
now took this one to her breast.

As the dangers of that fateful year thickened and news came