In these and countless other ways, the new kingdom of love is seen in India, and can be judged even by those who do not own Christ as King. But there are many who do own Him, and find how much He has to give besides the healing of bodily ills. You remember Chikka, who broke the serpent idol? He was one of the first who learned to serve Christ, though he had to wait a long time before he heard of Him. Chikka’s family was poor, so he could not go to school, nor learn to read or write, and for many years he had no one to tell him of any god other than the idols he despised. He was nearly forty years old before he heard of Jesus Christ, and after he had learned about Him, he saw that He could do for him all that the gods of stone could never do. Soon he and the missionaries urged the people of his village to give up worshipping idols. The villagers had seen that no harm had come to Chikka, and they began to think that perhaps it was really true, as the missionaries said, that it was the worshippers that kept the god Runga safe in his temple, and not the idol that kept them safe. They left the god alone to see if he could take care of himself. They brought him no fresh flowers, nor did they see that there was oil in the lamp that burned before him. Very soon the garlands withered, and the lamp went out. The temple became dirty and untidy, and worst of all, the roof fell in just over the god’s head. But though the villagers gave up the worship of the idol, that did not mean that they were willing to become Christians. At Chikka’s baptism, they took sudden fright lest drops of water should fall on them by mistake, and make them Christians against their will, and they rushed out of the church till they blocked up the door, and some of them had to climb out by the window. [Illustration: RESCUED FAMINE CHILDREN] CHAPTER XI ANANTA THE SEEKER There have often been learned Hindu men who have lost their faith in idols, and the story of one of these has so much to do with the lives of many children in India to-day, that we must not miss it out. Ananta Shastri was a seeker for the King of India, though he did not know it; and his daughter Ramabai is now helping hundreds of little girls to find Him. Many Hindus think that no woman ought to be allowed to learn to read or to write, or to study the sacred books. Even if a husband is a learned man, he cannot talk much to his wife about the things that interest him, because she would not know what he meant. Ananta Shastri was a very able man, and he did not think that it was a good plan to keep girls ignorant, but it was not easy for one man to do much to change this custom of the Hindus. One day, as he was travelling, he met another Brahman. The second man had a little daughter, nine years of age, with him, whose name was Lakshmibai, and before the two Brahmans parted they had arranged that Ananta would take the child home with him to be his wife.