A half century among the Siamese and the Lao : an ... - Khamkoo

138 AMONG THE SIAMESE AND THE LAO
cute our work without let or hindrance. Other
princes and officers were pleased to give the same assurance.
With the Prince's party there came a large
mail from friends in Bangkok, giving full particulars
of the negotiations that were stopped by the sudden
illness of the Prince, and clearing up the questions
about which we were so much in doubt. The interposition
of Providence had been so marked that we could
only stand in awe before Him who had so wonderfully
led us. For, after the utmost stretch of my own
credulity in trying to trust the Prince, my final conviction
is that, had he lived, he and the mission could
not have existed in the same country. He could never
have endured to see his people becoming Christians
Not that he cared so much for Buddhism; but it
would have been a constant challenge to his autocratic
rule.
In March, while the scenes of this tragic drama were
slowly enacting in Bangkok, and while we were
anxiously awaiting the denouement, we had a pleasant
episode of another kind. One morning we were surprised
to learn from some natives that out on the plain,
not far from the city, they had passed two white foreigners,
a man and a woman, and that they were coming
to our house. Sure enough, about ten o'clock, who
should ride up but Rev. and Mrs. J. N. Gushing of the
American Baptist Mission in Burma! What an unexpected
pleasure! For three years we had seen but
two white faces outside of our own little circle. Some
of our latest news from home friends was eleven months
old when we received it. What a social feast we did
have!
They had started from Shwegyin, Burma, had made
a tour west of the Salwin River, crossed over to Keng