he headwaters of
the Rewa River. His words were received with consternation.

The native teachers wept softly. His two fellow missionaries strove to
dissuade him. The King of Rewa warned him that the mountain dwellers
would surely kai-kai him--kai-kai meaning "to eat"--and that he, the
King of Rewa, having become Lotu, would be put to the necessity of going
to war with the mountain dwellers. That he could not conquer them he
was perfectly aware. That they might come down the river and sack Rewa
Village he was likewise perfectly aware. But what was he to do? If John
Starhurst persisted in going out and being eaten, there would be a war
that would cost hundreds of lives.

Later in the day a deputation of Rewa chiefs waited upon John Starhurst.
He heard them patiently, and argued patiently with them, though he
abated not a whit from his purpose. To his fellow missionaries he
explained that he was not bent upon martyrdom; that the call had come
for him to carry the Gospel into Viti Levu, and that he was merely
obeying the Lord's wish.

To the traders who came and objected most strenuously of all, he said:
"Your objections are valueless. They consist merely of the damage that
may be done your businesses. You are interested in making money, but
I am interested in saving souls. The heathen of this dark land must be
saved."

John Starhurst was not a fanatic. He would have been the first man to
deny the imputation. He was eminently sane and practical.

He was sure that his mission would result in good, and he had
private visions of igniting the Pentecostal spark in the souls of the
mountaineers and of inaugurating a revival that would sweep down out of
the mountains and across the length and breadth of the Great Land from
sea to sea and to the isles in the midst of the sea. There were no
wild lights in his mild gray eyes, but only calm resolution and an
unfaltering trust in the Higher Power that was guiding him.

One man only he found who approved of his project, and that was Ra Vatu,
who secretly encouraged him and offered to lend him guides to the first
foothills. John Starhurst, in turn, was greatly pleased by Ra Vatu's
conduct. From an incorrigible heathen, with a heart as black as his
practices, Ra Vatu was beginning to emanate light. He even spoke of
becoming Lotu. True, three years before he had expressed a similar
intention, and would have entered the church had not John Starhurst
entered objection to his bringing