“There are fifteen houses left in this town; the next nearest is ten minutes away, and there are plenty of people within an hour. But it is a terrible upset, and at present we hardly know what to do or say. One little consolation we have, that the people evidently understand that we are their friends.
“Yesterday one of the wives of Mwan’a Mputu came to the station saying she did not know where her husband was, so she and her child are staying here. In the afternoon a little boy came with a bad foot; he and his mother were in hiding, and as his foot was bad he came here. He does not want to go away again, but that is an after consideration; he may not be allowed to stay.
“We hear shots in the direction of the town he has come from, but do not know yet what they mean. We are in no danger personally, and we can only trust that God Who led us here and has been so evidently with us in all times will not fail us now. We know He will not, neither will He let His work suffer; but for the present it is a long set-back, we are afraid.
“Just now we have plenty of food for the station folks, but we may have a little difficulty in that important matter.”
CHAPTER XIII
LIFE AT KIBOKOLO—continued
“October 20th, 1902. (To Mrs. J. Jenkyn Brown.)—I expect you will be surprised to hear from me so soon again. I want you to know of the events which have happened during the last fortnight, which have been a great blow to us, and, as far as we can see at present, to the work here.
“You will, I know, sympathise with us and pray that we may be guided aright in all we do, and that good may come out of even this seeming evil. It is so sad to think of all those poor things scattered like sheep and wandering about in the bush during this terribly wet weather. We hear that two have died already, and I am afraid they will not be the only ones. Three women with their little ones have sought refuge here, and are with us now. We have not been long enough here for the people to have the confidence in us which they had in Congo, or no doubt there would have been many more. All the towns about have taken a vow not to harbour the Kibokolo people, and the soldiers are on the look-out for the men to take prisoners. So far they have not succeeded in taking any....