It soon turned out that he and Rijnhart were old acquaintances, having landed in China about the same time, and thus the ice was speedily broken, and I quickly learnt that our new friend's name was Mr. Lumberg, that he was a Swede, and belonged to that branch of the International Mission Alliance. He had been some months in Chong Wei trying to open a mission station, but so far, owing to the opposition of the Yamen, he had not been very successful. He was very anxious to hire a house, but, although many of the townspeople were willing to let, the Yamen people secretly but effectually stopped them doing so, at the same time assuring Mr. Lumberg that they were doing all they could to help him, even going so far as to put up notices in public places proclaiming his wants. The petty official of Chong Wei was thus able to gratify his personal spite against foreigners while guarding against the displeasure of his superior at Lancheo, a man well known to be favourably disposed towards them.
When we returned to our inn, Lumberg accompanied us, and eventually we persuaded him to send for his bedding and spend the night with us. It was now, for the first time, that we heard what a hornet's nest Mr. Littledale had raised by his remarks before the Royal Geographical Society, about sending unprotected Swedish girls to live in out-of-the-way parts of China. Well meant as these remarks undoubtedly were, the Swedes considered that his object was to strike a blow at their missionary enterprise, and when the matter was taken up by the Swedish Government, it roused a feeling of resentment that will not die out for some time, and which, in some cases, seemed to extend to the whole race of Englishmen. Although we were invariably treated with the greatest hospitality, one could not help seeing that this feeling existed. From the accounts we heard, it certainly seemed as though these remarks were a little unnecessary, and certainly not one of those ladies of whom Mr. Littledale spoke with such sympathy has ever thanked him for it. We were assured that unmarried girls were never sent to out-stations alone, but were invariably sent to live with a married couple, and every precaution taken to guard them from any danger. At the same time, there is no doubt that Mr. Littledale's intention has been misunderstood, and could this misunderstanding be cleared up, I think it would be all for the better.
OUR INN AT CHONG WEI.
That evening, while walking in the streets, accompanied by Shahzad Mir, an incident occurred, which, but for Rijnhart's shrewdness and knowledge of the Chinese, might have landed us in a row. Shahzad Mir was dressed in semi-European clothes, and being an unmistakable Mohammedan, some of the people jumped to the conclusion that he was a "Salar" in disguise. No sooner had this idea been started than it spread rapidly. A crowd collected, and began following us, shouting excitedly. We quickened our pace slightly, and told Shahzad Mir not to get separated from us. The crowd and shouting gradually increased, and things were looking awkward, when, seizing his opportunity, Rijnhart suddenly turned round and addressed the crowd, saying that he knew for certain that Shahzad Mir had been travelling for six months since he left his home, and that, as the Salars lived comparatively close by, he could not possibly be one of them. This pacified them for a bit, and while they discussed the probability or otherwise of Shahzad Mir being a Salar we quickly left the city and turned into the suburb, which was comparatively quiet; and the only result of the disturbance was that our faithful Duffadar was confined to the inn during the remainder of our stay in that place, while we ourselves never entered the city itself unless accompanied either by Lumberg or Rijnhart.
CHAPTER XXIX.
MISSIONARY YARNS—CHEAP LIVING—ON THE YELLOW RIVER AGAIN—CASH.
The room we occupied in our inn, which was the only one available, could not have been more than twelve feet by eight feet, and half this space was occupied by the indispensable k'ang. Not having, as yet, acquired the Chinese art of squatting cross-legged on the k'ang, and eating off a little stool about eight inches high, we were obliged to squash ourselves into the remaining space, which just enabled Esau to bring our dinner to the door and hand it in to one of us—there was no room for him inside till one of us went out. Nevertheless we managed to enjoy ourselves immensely, Lumberg forming a pleasant addition to our party. He and Rijnhart managed to keep us very much amused with stories of the mistakes they and others had made in talking Chinese, soon after landing in the country—mistakes that are rendered even more common by the numerous differences of dialect met with in the different districts.
On one occasion Rijnhart, when preaching in the streets, was exhorting his audience "to taste our religion, and see if it is good," saying, "If you see a pear, and want to know whether it is good or not, you bite it, and taste it, and then, if you find it good, you eat it." He had been going on in this strain for a short time, when he was suddenly interrupted by a bystander, who said, "But, teacher, you people don't eat dogs, do you?" Rijnhart having, unfortunately, used the Chinese for dog instead of that for pear.