torture were meted out to prisoners, and even witnesses were laid hold
of and beaten on the face by the executioners if their tale did not suit
the mandarin. Men who were plainly guilty but Who had given their judge
a liberal bribe were let off, while innocent men were made to pay heavy
fines or were thrown into prison. The young missionary went out and
on his way sickened by the sights he had witnessed. And as he went,
he raised his eyes to heaven and prayed fervently that he might be a
faithful preacher of the gospel, and that one day Formosa would be a
Christian land and injustice and oppression be done away.

The next scene was a happier one. There was an earnest little band of
Christians in Go-ko-khi, and two of the young people were about to be
married. It was the first Christian marriage in the place and Kai Bok-su
was called upon to officiate. There was a great deal of opposition
raised among the heathen, but after seeing the ceremony, they all voted
a Christian wedding everything that was beautiful and good.

CHAPTER VII. BESIEGING HEAD-HUNTERS

When they returned from their trip, Mackay and A Hoa with the assistance
of some of their Christian friends set about looking for a new house in
a more wholesome district. It was much easier for the missionary to rent
a place now, and he managed to secure a comfortable home upon the bluff
above the town. It was a dryer situation and much more healthful. Here
one room was used as a study and every morning when not away on a tour a
party of young men gathered in it for lessons. Sometimes, what with
traveling, preaching, training his students, visiting the sick, and
pulling teeth, Mackay had scarcely time to eat, and very little to
sleep. But always as he came and went on his travels, his eyes would
wander to the mountains where the savages lived, and with all his heart
he would wish that he might visit them also.

His Chinese friends held up their hands in dismay when he broached the
subject. To the mountains where the Chhi-hoan lived! Did Kai Bok-su not
know that every man of them was a practised head-hunter, and that behind
every rock and tree and in the darkness of the forests they lay in wait
for any one who went beyond the settled districts? Yes, Kai Bok-su knew
all that, but he could not quite explain that it was just that which
made the thought of a visit to them seem so alluring, just that which
made him so anxious to tell them of Jesus Christ, who wis