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

STATION AT CHIENG RAI 373
somewhat eccentric and impractical in his ideas.
seemed not to have thought that to circulate books
among newly discovered tribes would require—since
He
the cessation of the gift of tongues—acquisition of
their languages, translation, printing-presses, etc., etc.
But the case, at all events, seemed worth following up.
I acknowledged the receipt of his letter, pointing
out the obstacles which he seemed to overlook, directing
his attention to our own mission as occupying a
new and interesting field, with many hill-tribes on our
own border which we hoped to reach. I invited his
cooperation, stating that as soon as we were properly
enforced, we intended to go as far north as we could.
Almost to my surprise, Mr. Arthington replied immediately,
expressing his interest in our work, but still
reverting to his scheme for evangelizing the " tribes of
Aryan stock" found by his French traveller. That
was, of course, impossible for us to undertake, though
I did propose to Dr. Gushing of the American Baptist
Mission in Burma to join me in a tour through that
region at Mr. Arthington's expense. This plan had
attractions for us both ; but Dr. Cushing's college work
made it impossible. Still, we might be able to make
some compromise with our unknown correspondent.
So, for some years, I kept up an occasional correspondence
with Mr. Arthington, just suflQcient to keep us in
touch with each other. He always replied immediately
to my letters, breathing the same deep interest in missions,
and especially in the tribes hitherto unreached
by the Gospel. Touring within my own appointed field
engrossed the whole of my available time; but since
that field was already in part supplied, it did not specially
appeal to him.
After the tour, longer than usual, taken with my