KNOWN

As mentioned previously, Everlasting Pearl's husband was raving mad for
three years. Then he took a turn for the better, but was still insane
and unable to do any work. For seven years he remained in that
condition, and then, when death knocked at the door, it seemed to bring
relief to the members of the family.

A few months later Everlasting Pearl was persuaded to marry a widower,
a quiet, honest tailor, who lived at Kucheng. So she returned to the
place of her birth, and found a real home awaiting her. Mr. Lue, her
husband, was a man of sterling worth, and soon a real affection sprang
up between them. Mrs. Lue, for as such Everlasting Pearl will now
appear, was very happy, and fully appreciated her change of
circumstances.

Mr. Lue had three little children when his new wife entered his home;
but about a month later one child died. He had been ill for some time,
and Mrs. Lue's motherly care could not save him from death. A second
son died three years later, apparently from the same illness, both
seeming to waste away. Their mother had died from consumption, and
evidently her weakness had affected the children. Only one child, a
brother's son, remained, and Mrs. Lue took him to her loving heart. The
lad, in his turn, lavished all his childish affection on her, for she
was a real mother to him.

About two years after her marriage to Mr. Lue, the latter was asked by a
neighbour, who was a seeker after the Truth, to accompany him to the
Gospel Hall. We were then holding meetings in the house of a
Christian, who lived in a village about two miles' distance from
Kucheng. But Mr. Lue, being a very nervous man, felt shy about going
and shrank from meeting strangers, especially when these appeared in
the form of foreigners. Moreover, he was loath to give up his time
without having a sure compensation for it, as he was hard-working, and
did not like to spend an hour in vain. So he refused to go.

Another two years passed by. The Boxer troubles had quietened down,
and the workers who had returned were again holding meetings in the
little village near Kucheng. The place was very hard, the Christians
cold, and the man in whose house the services were held was not on good
terms with the other Church members in the village. One Sunday, when
the writer was there, her heart was specially heavy. The coldness was
appalling, and she came to the point where she said, "Lord, I cannot go
on with the work here