Neither
tradition nor Holy Writ record that the Apostles dragged their wives
and families into the heathen lands where they went to preach,
although I believe that some of them were married. But this is by the
way.
Then falls the blow; the mission house is sacked, the husband escapes
by a miracle and the poor young lady is torn away to be the prey of a
vile slave-trader. Lastly, according to the quite unreliable evidence
of some savage already in the shadow of death, she is seen in the
charge of other unknown savages. On the strength of this the husband,
playing the part of a mad botanist, hunts for her for a score of
years, enduring incredible hardships and yet buoyed up by a high and
holy trust. To my mind it was a beautiful and pathetic story. Still,
for reasons which I have suggested, I confess that I hoped that long
ago she had returned into the hands of the Power which made her, for
what would be the state of a young white lady who for two decades had
been at the mercy of these black brutes?
And yet, and yet, after my experience of Mavovo and his Snake, I did
not feel inclined to dogmatise about anything.
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