He had faults, I well know. But I am not the one to mention them, so much do I still feel my indebtedness to him for innumerable kindnesses through all those years, in which he journeyed with me sharing exposure and hardship, sharing also the joy of preaching the Gospel. On one occasion Ndong Koni went into a French trading-house and asked for something which he wanted to buy. The white man behind the counter told him that he did not have the article. Ndong Koni turned to go out, but the white man called to him and said: “Why don’t you buy rum instead?” “Because I am a Christian,” answered Ndong Koni. The white man railed at his belief and told him his own anti-Christian beliefs. “Well,” said Ndong Koni, “if I believed as you do I would drink rum and do a great many other things that I do not do. But as long as I am a Christian I shall not do those things.” Once at the close of a school term when I was taking the schoolboys home, I had seventeen boys in the _Evangeline_, which I was towing behind the _Dorothy_. We had gone about twenty miles when the engine of the _Dorothy_ suddenly stopped and refused to go in spite of all my efforts. I found afterwards that the benzine which had been sent me from Germany was not the quality which the engine required. I had this same experience frequently during the next several months, and after starting out with the _Dorothy_ towing the _Evangeline_ we would return to port a few days later with the little _Evangeline_ towing the _Dorothy_. But this time I had first to take the boys to their homes leaving the _Dorothy_ at anchor. The _Evangeline_ with seventeen boys in it was already crowded, but myself and the crew of five men squeezed into it, and room was also made for the men to use the oars. There was a good wind but we had no sails. The tide had just turned and was against us, the current was strong, and we sat in that cramped position for ten hours, while those faithful boys pulled hard at the oars without relief. At midnight we reached the first town, twenty miles beyond where the _Dorothy_ had stopped. Here we remained until morning. Three of the schoolboys lived in this town. The other fourteen lived in several different towns on other rivers. Morning found me with fever, due to the long exposure to the sun, for which I was not prepared, not having expected it. It was necessary that I should start for home immediately in the _Evangeline_. But what was I to do with the schoolboys?