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

162 AMONG THE SIAMESE AND THE LAO
commands were against her. She had killed animals;
and the command is explicit, and condemns without a
saviour. That the Creator of all had made these
creatures for our use and benefit was a new idea. That
of itself would remove much of the burden on her conscience.
And as one after another of the great truths
of revelation was opened up to her, particularly the
doctrine of the incarnation and atonement of our divine-human
Redeemer, it seemed as if the burden was
lifted. Nan Inta was himself a living testimony that the
Christian teaching can and does give instantaneous
relief when simply believed. It is difficult to tell
which was more touching, the sympathetic earnestness
of the speaker, or the comfort it imparted to the
hearer. The Princess begged us to come again and
often. And neither of us found any other place so
attractive.
After a week spent in Lakawn, we departed on our
way to Nan. The next Sunday we spent in the forest.
I look back with delightful memories to the occasional
Sabbaths thus spent in the deep forest after a
busy week with no rest and no privacy—a Sabbath
in solitude, away from every noise, and even every
song except the music of the wind and the song of
birds! We always had service with our men; and
then, under the shade of some cool spreading tree, or
beside a flowing brook, one could be alone and yet not
alone. No one more needs such retirement than a
missionary, whose work is always a giving-out, with
fewer external
aids for resupply than others have.
The next Sunday we spent in Wieng Sa, the first
of the numerous little outlying towns of Nan. On
Monday we reached Nan itself, the limit of our tour in
that direction. The country was well governed, the