On the eve of her departure she was staying with friends. At night they
went into her room and found her weeping quietly in bed. They tried to
comfort her, and she said half-whimsically that she had been overcome
by the feeling that she was homeless and without kith and kin la her
own country. "I'm a poor solitary with only memories." "But you have
troops of friends--you have us all--we all love you." "Yes, I ken, and
I am grateful," she replied, "but"--wistfully--"it's just that I've
none of my ain folk to say good-bye to."
She was very tired when she left, "I'm hardly myself in this country,"
she said. "It has too many things, and it is always in such a hurry. I
lose my head." Again kind hands eased her way, and settled her on the
steamer. Dan was inconsolable, and wept to be taken back to Joppa.
The voyage gave her a new lease of life. The quietness and peace and
meditation, the warm sunshine and the breezes, the loveliness of the
sky and sea, rested and healed her. This, despite the conduct of some
wild passengers bound for the gold-mines. One day she rose and left the
table by way of protest, but in the end they bade her a kindly good-
bye, and listened to her advice. At Lagos the Governor sent off his
aide-de-camp with greetings, and a case of milk for the children. Mr.
Grey also appeared and escorted her to Calabar. "Am I not a privileged
and happy woman?" she wrote to his sister.
The same note of gratitude filled a letter which she wrote on board to
Dr. Robson, asking him to put a few lines in the _Record_ thanking
every one for their kindness, as it was impossible to answer all the
letters she had received. The letter itself was inserted, and we give
the concluding paragraph:
To all who have received me into their homes, and given me a share of
what are the most sacred things of earth, I give heartfelt thanks. What
the Bethany house must have been to our Lord, no one can better
appreciate than the missionary coming home to a strange place,
homeless. I thank all those who have rested me, and nursed me back to
health and strength, and who have nerved me for future service by the
sweet ministries and hallowing influences of their home life. To the
members of the Mission Board for their courtesy, their confidence, and
sympathetic helpfulness, I owe much gratitude. And not only for
services which can be tabulated, but for the whole atmosphere of
sympathy which has surrounded me; for the hand-clasps which have spoken
volumes; for the looks of love which have beamed from eyes soft with
feeling; for the prayer which has upheld and guided in days gone by,
and on which I count for strength in days to come; for all I pray that
God may say to each giving, sympathetic heart, "Inasmuch as ye did it
to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto Me."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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