As they went along, Dr. Shelton saw many people who were sick and many whose eyes were sore or blind. He said to Yang Tien-fu, "I left America to help the sick people in Tibet. Since you are keeping me away from my hospital in Batang, you must let me have a hospital along the road."
So the chief waited while the doctor healed the sick. Many soldiers joined the band, and the doctor ministered to all who needed him.
One day the chief said, "You are an honest man. I want you to be one of my men and stay with us. These other fellows can't be trusted. Even our treasurer steals. Stay with us and be the pastor and the doctor for me and my men. I will pay you twelve thousand dollars a year and give you half of it right now."
Dr. Shelton chuckled. He wondered whether anyone else had ever been invited to be the pastor of a robber band.
Back in Yunnanfu Mrs. Shelton, Doris, and Dorothy waited. Every day the girls went to the gate of the city, hoping to see a runner coming with a message from their father.
"But, Doris," said Dorothy, "there is no chance for Father to escape. He is guarded all the time."
"The Bible says that Paul and Silas were sleeping right between guards, and God opened the doors of the prison," said Doris. "If we pray, God may open some door so Father can escape."
Thus while the robber band was climbing the steep mountain and leading their tired prisoner farther and farther away, two little girls knelt down to pray.
For nearly three weeks no message came.
"If we could only know if Father is still living and if he is well!" said Mrs. Shelton.