had
young people. May God's Word not return to Him void!

And now for a good old pipe, and a few good long thoughts of home,
dear ones, and friends.

(This almost long enough for sermon, and needs only the Amen!)

* * * * *

Thursday, October 24.--Long break, four days gone by; but one day is
like the other except that on alternative days I take the funerals;
for the rest, each day is like preceding morning, noon, and
afternoon--sick! sick! sick!

O for a change in my work! The continual cry is "Minheer, kom tog
hier" (Sir, please come here), "Minheer, gaat tog daar" (Sir, please
go there), and one grows so weary of scenes of suffering and sorrow;
always red and tear-stained eyes; always Love, helpless, hopeless,
impotent, despairing; always face to face with Decay, Change, Death;
always the same close, stifling, little tent.

Such a life here as "leeraart" (chaplain) full of dull, oppressive,
burdensome, wearying, saddening hours. O the monotony, the horrible
monotony of my work. How welcome the hour of sunset! How blissful to
lay me down to sleep! Thank God for his unspeakable gift of
sleep--that period of forgetfulness, of rest, of void.

And yet let me confess, can there be any work grander, more glorious,
than just this work of mine? How one can revel in it! The unspeakable
bliss of being able to ease the burdens of one's fellow-men--the
supreme honour of being able to be a blessing. Surely the purest
pleasure here on earth--to bear one another's burdens.

To-day a grievous, burdensome day--full of worry and trouble.

Found that my tent had been unceremoniously pulled down and removed
during my morning visit in camp.

Hurried home to find things lying in dire confusion, and unprotected.

"Ai, maar dit was ook genoeg om'n mens regtig moeilijk en nukkerig te
maak" (Ah, but it was enough to rouse and irritate a person). But
what an utter absence of the faintest traces of some respect and
deference. There are men whose cold-blooded brutishness and
irreverence knock one over completely. One's person, one's
profession, is no guarantee, no safeguard--nay, I verily believe some
glory and revel in the act of making a fellow-creature miserable.

So I sent in my resignation on the spot. "The indignity which I had
suffered at the hands of the authorities makes it impossible for me
to continue in my office."

And of course this made a mighty change, and there were explanations
an