Sketches from Formosa.

IN JEOPARDY AT CHIANG-HOA 185
At this stage the strong anti-foreign and anti-missionary
opposition in the city became every day more manifest.
When one of the native brethren of our party went out
for the daily supply of food, he was invariably recongized
and followed by persons who threatened to take his
life. On several occasions I was myself mobbed and
jostled about in a very unpleasant way'; and once, when
walking on the city wall, so many
stones were thrown
at me that I had to make a hasty retreat into the street,
and run through a network of back lanes into our dreary
little den. Two days after, some men of the baser sort
banded themselves together, and came to the inn where
we lodged with the determination of hounding us off.
They burst in the main door of the establishment, and
loudly began to denounce and threaten us. It was then
about two o'clock in the morning, but the dark street
was lighted up by many torches which they carried.
I at once ran out and tried to talk to them pleasantly
about being away from their beds at this untimely
hour, the reply to which was a great shout against the
setting up of any foreign Church there. The excitement
died down after a little, but only for the crowd to carry
out its declared intention of devising some other way
of thwarting us ; for one could plainly see that only
the first blow was needed to have the street drenched
with our blood.
I hardly knew what to do. Old Church Elder Au-na
of our party was beginning to break down under the
strain and from want of sleep, while we all admitted that
if once our position were abandoned, the renewal of
any attempt to gain a foothold in Chiang-hoa would
be well-nigh impossible. Many were the prayers we
offered that God would open the way before us, \but
everything seemed dark and unpromising ; and it was
with very little hope of success that I at last made up