on that
the old friend would be afraid that the Oriental sun had touched George
Mackay's brain.

Nevertheless he thought the custom one he could turn to good account,
and before long he was trying it himself. He had such a wonderful memory
that he never forgot anything he had once read. So the scholars of
north Formosa soon discovered, again to their humiliation, that this Kai
Bok-su of Tamsui could beat them at their own game. They did not care
how much he might profess to know of writers and lands beyond China.
Such were only barbarians anyway. But when, right before a crowd,
he would display a surer knowledge of the Chinese classics than they
themselves, they began not only to respect but to fear him. It was
no use trying to humiliate him with a quotation. With his bright eyes
flashing, he would tell, without a moment's hesitation, where it
was found and come back at the questioner swiftly with another, most
probably one long forgotten, and reel it off as though he had studied
Chinese all his life.

He was a wonderful man certainly, they all agreed, and one whom it was
not safe to oppose. The common people liked him better every day. He was
so tactful, so kind, and always so careful not to arouse the
prejudice of the heathen. He was extremely wise in dealing with their
superstitions. No matter how absurd or childish They might be, he never
ridiculed them, but only strove to show the people how much happier they
might be if they believed in God as their Father and in Jesus Christ
as their Savior. He never made light of anything sacred to the Chinese
mind, but always tried to take whatever germ of good he could find
in their religion, and lead on from it to the greater good found in
Christianity. He discovered that the ancestral worship made the younger
people kind and respectful to older folk, and he saw that Chinese
children reverenced their parents and elders in a way that he felt many
of his young friends across the sea would do well to copy.

One day when he and A Hoa were out on a preaching tour, the wise Kai
Bok-su made use of this respect for parents in quieting a mob. He and
his comrade were standing side by side on the steps of a heathen temple
as they had done at Kelung. The angry crowd was scowling and muttering,
ready to throw stones as soon as the preacher uttered a word. Mackay
knew this, and when they had sung a hymn and the people waited, ready
for a riot, his voice rang out clear and steady, repeat