ing the fifth
commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." A silence fell over
the muttering crowd, and an old heathen whose cue was white and whose
aged hands trembled on the top of his staff, nodded his head and said,
"That is heavenly doctrine." The people were surprised and disarmed. If
the black-bearded barbarian taught such truths as this, he surely was
not so very wicked after all. And so they listened attentively as he
went on to show that they had all one great Father, even God.

He sometimes found it rather a task to treat with respect that which the
Chinese held sacred. Especially was this so when he discovered to his
amusement and to some carefully concealed disgust, that in the Chinese
family the pig was looked upon with affection, and as a young naval
officer, who visited Mackay remarked, "was treated like a gentleman."

Every Chinese house of any size was made up of three buildings joined
together so as to make three sides of an enclosure. This space was
called a court, and a door led from it to another next the street. In
this outer yard pigs and fowl were always to be found. Whenever the
missionary dropped in at a home, mother pig and all the little pigs
often followed him inside the house, quite like members of the family.
Every one was always glad to see Kai Bok-su, pigs and all, and as soon
as he appeared the order was given--"Infuse tea." And when the little
handleless cups of clear brown liquid were passed around and they all
drank and chatted, Mrs. Pig and her children strolled about as welcome
as the guest.

The Chinese would allow no one to hurt their pigs, either. One day as
Mackay sat in his rooms facing the river, battling with some new
Chinese characters, he heard a great hubbub coming up the street. The
threatening mobs that used to surround his house had long ago ceased to
trouble him. He arose in some surprise and went to the door to see what
was the matter. A very unusual sight for Tamsui met his gaze. Coming
up the street at a wild run were some half-dozen English sailors, their
loose blue blouses and trousers flapping madly. They were evidently from
a ship which Mackay had seen lying in the harbor that morning.

"Give us a gun!" roared the foremost as soon as he saw the missionary.

Mackay did not possess a gun, and would not have given the enraged
bluejacket one had he owned a dozen. But the Chinese mob,