nd had come in, and sent for his
own medical man, an assistant surgeon at the Westminster Hospital. I
assured my uncle that medical help would be of no service to me, and
that I did not wish to go to the expense involved. He, however, quieted
me on this score, saying that he had sent for his own doctor, and that
the bill would be charged to himself. When the surgeon came and learned
all the particulars, he said, "Well, if you have been living moderately,
you may pull through; but if you have been going in for beer and that
sort of thing, there is no manner of chance for you." I thought that if
sober living was to do anything, few could have a better chance, as
little but bread and water had been my diet for a good while past. I
told him I had lived abstemiously, and found that it helped me in study.
"But now," he said, "you must keep up your strength, for it will be a
pretty hard struggle." And he ordered me a bottle of port wine every
day, and as many chops as I could consume. Again I smiled inwardly,
having no means for the purchase of such luxuries. This difficulty,
however, was also met by my kind uncle, who sent me at once all that was
needed.

I was much concerned, notwithstanding the agony I suffered, that my dear
parents should not be made acquainted with my state. Thought and prayer
had satisfied me that I was not going to die, but that there was indeed
a work for me to do in China. If my dear parents should come up and find
me in that condition, I must lose the opportunity of seeing how GOD was
going to work for me, now that my money had almost come to an end. So,
after prayer for guidance, I obtained a promise from my uncle and cousin
not to write to my parents, but to leave me to communicate with them
myself. I felt it was a very distinct answer to prayer when they gave me
this promise, and I took care to defer all communication with them
myself until the crisis was past and the worst of the attack over. At
home they knew that I was working hard for an examination, and did not
wonder at my silence.

Days and nights of suffering passed slowly by; but at length, after
several weeks, I was sufficiently restored to leave my room; and then I
learned that two men, though not from the London Hospital, who had had
dissection wounds at the same time as myself, had both succumbed, while
I was spared in answer to prayer to work for GOD in China.

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CHAPTER VI

STRENGTHENED BY