disturbed the meetings by throwing stones into the doorway
whenever he passed. But his sister was cured of malaria by the
missionary's medicine, and soon both sister and mother became
Christians, and finally the stone-thrower himself. And so,
gradually, the lines of the enemy were falling back, and at every
sign of retreat the little army of two advanced. A little army?
No! For was there not the whole host of heaven moving with them?
And Mackay was learning that his boyish dreams of glory were
truly to be fulfilled. He had wanted always to be a soldier like
his grandfather, and fight a great Waterloo, and here he was
right in the midst of the battle with the victory and the glory
sure.

The two missionaries often went on short trips here and there
into the country around Tamsui, and Mackay determined that when
the intense summer heat had lessened they would make a long tour
to some of the large cities. The heat of August was almost
overpowering to the Canadian. Flies and mosquitoes and insect
pests of all kinds made his life miserable, too, and prevented
his studying as hard as he wished.

One oppressive day he and A Hoa returned from a preaching tour in
the country to find their home in a state of siege. Right across
the threshold lay a monster serpent, eight feet in length. A Hoa
shouted a warning, and seized a long pole, and the two managed to
kill it. But their troubles were not yet over. The next morning,
Mackay stepped outside the door and sprang back just in time to
escape another, the mate of the one killed. This one was even
larger than the first, and was very fierce. But they finished it
with sticks and stones.