Christians, and finally the stone-thrower
himself. And so, gradually, the lines of the enemy were falling back,
and at every sign of retreat the little army of two advanced. A little
army? No! For was there not the whole host of heaven moving with them?
And Mackay was learning that his boyish dreams of glory were truly to
be fulfilled. He had wanted always to be a soldier like his grandfather,
and fight a great Waterloo, and here he was right in the midst of the
battle with the victory and the glory sure.

The two missionaries often went on short trips here and there into
the country around Tamsui, and Mackay determined that when the intense
summer heat had lessened they would make a long tour to some of
the large cities. The heat of August was almost overpowering to the
Canadian. Flies and mosquitoes and insect pests of all kinds made his
life miserable, too, and prevented his studying as hard as he wished.

One oppressive day he and A Hoa returned from a preaching tour in
the country to find their home in a state of siege. Right across the
threshold lay a monster serpent, eight feet in length. A Hoa shouted
a warning, and seized a long pole, and the two managed to kill it.
But their troubles were not yet over. The next morning, Mackay stepped
outside the door and sprang back just in time to escape another, the
mate of the one killed. This one was even larger than the first, and was
very fierce. But they finished it with sticks and stones.

When September came the days grew clearer, and the many pests of summer
were not so numerous. The mosquitoes and flies that had been such
torments disappeared, and there was some relief from the damp oppressive
heat. But he had only begun to enjoy the refreshing breaths of cool
air, and had remarked to A Hoa that the days reminded him of Canadian
summers, when the weather gave him to understand that every Formosan
season has its drawbacks. September brought tropical storms and typhoons
that were terrible, and he saw from his little house on the hillside big
trees torn up by the root, buildings swept away like chaff, and out in
the harbor great ships lifted from their anchorage and whirled away to
destruction. And then he was sometimes thankful that his little hut was
built into the hillside, solid and secure.

But the fierce storms cleared away the heavy dampness that had made
the heat of the summer so unbearable, and October and November brought
delightful days. The weather was