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

THE CLOSED DOOR 403
Sai, M. Luce had returned to Luang Prabang, and had
wired to the oflSce in Mftang Sai that my passport
was come, and that I was expected in Liiang Prabang.
No instructions were given regarding my work, and
the authorities were in doubt what to do. Under the
circumstances, the only passport they could issue was
one to the capital, Luang Prabang.
They were not particular, however, as to the route
I should take. So I chose a circuit to the northeast,
leading through the mountain region to the JJ River,
down which I could descend by boat to Liiang Prabang.
This would enable me to find Nan Tit, the Kamu
scholar whom I met at Muang Sai on my previous
tour, and to visit with him a few Kamu villages. The
extent of the work I hoped to undertake that season
would depend upon the opening I found there. A passport
was given me by that route, and a soldier was sent
along as guide and escort.
Nan Tit, as I hoped, had read the books I gave him,
had prepared the way for me by teaching the substance
of them to his neighbours, and now would assist
me in teaching his tribe. With him as interpreter
and assistant we visited a number of contiguous villages,
holding night conferences, at which the whole
population of the village would be present. Everywhere
a wonderfully ready response was given to the
Gospel. They, too, were oppressed by the dread of
spirits, and welcomed deliverance from their bondage.
They would accept the Gospel, but, naturally, referred
us on to the Pia.
To his village at last we went. He was a venerable
man near seventy, and though for years hopelessly
crippled by paralysis of the lower limbs, his bright
mind and business talents had raised him to his pres-