'"_While vast continents are shrouded in almost utter darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of heathenism, and of Islam, the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by Him to keep you out of the foreign mission-field._" 'The purpose of the strong man to spend and be spent in the Cause shines out in those last short months. We see him building at Sheikh Othman a centre for his work, talking with patients in the mat-verandah, dropping into coffee-shops to meet in friendly intercourse with the Moslems he loved, picking up and carrying with the aid of his devoted colleague a sick man left to die in the street. Then the fever-mists gather, and the scholar-missionary's death claims Arabia for her true Lord. 'The missionary chapter of Ion Keith-Falconer's life closed quickly, but the eyes of Christians were opened to the land for which he died.' Is there such a thing as waste in God's economy? Is it not written 'whoso loseth his life, the same shall find it'? QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER XI 1. Of the heroes mentioned in this chapter, whom do you consider the greatest, and why? 2. What answer would you give to the assertion that Ion Keith-Falconer's life was wasted through his going to missionary work in Arabia? {187} 3. Estimate the extent of the work done for Africa by Livingstone. How far is it being followed up adequately now? 4. Give some account of the perplexities, hindrances, and difficulties which make it hard for a Mohammedan to become a Christian. 5. Which parts of the Moslem world seem to you in most need of Christian missionaries to-day? Why? What sort of men would you send to each? [1] i.e. Teachers. [2] Dr. Wherry, _Islam and Christianity in India._ {188} CHAPTER XII ISLAM AND THE CHRISTIAN 'So while the World rolls on from change to change And realms of thought expand, The letter stands without expanse or range, Stiff as a dead man's hand. While as the life-blood fills the glowing form, The spirit Christ has shed Flows through the ripening ages, fresh and warm, More felt than heard or read,' MILNES' 'PALM LEAVES' (quoted in Stanley's _Eastern Church_). [Sidenote: The Story of Islam.]