work she is doing is convincingly shown by the way in which the people
flock to her, and in their great eagerness to have the hospital kept open
the year around. This has proved to be impossible, although every summer
Dr. Hü has made an effort to continue the work, being willing to toil even
through the intense heat of July and August, and, since the students must
be given a vacation, with only half her usual corps of assistants. One
summer she wrote with gratitude that the thermometer in her bedroom
registered only 93° that day, after two weeks of 99° and even 100°, and
added, "It would do you good if you could see how grateful these people are
to see us keeping our hospital open; and we are very glad to be able to do
something for them in this very trying hot season."

But the intense heat of a South China summer and the things that it brings
with it, make it impossible to keep the work going continuously in the
present crowded quarters. Often it is the dreaded plague which necessitates
the closing of the hospital doors. One morning Dr. Hü heard that the
neighbour directly across the street from the hospital had been stricken
with this fatal disease. She closed the hospital at once, and put up a
notice telling the patients why it was necessary to close, and assuring
them that she would begin work again as soon as it was safe to do so. The
next morning the notice had disappeared, and another one which was put up
disappeared as promptly. An explanation of this was afforded Dr. Hü, by a
remark which she overheard: "How can we stand having this hospital closed?
We took the notice down in hope that the hospital would be opened." But
when the plague is prevalent, the closing of the hospital is the only safe
course to pursue; for one person, coming into the dispensary suffering from
this disease, may do more harm in a few minutes than could be undone in
many weeks.

A common and gracious way of expressing appreciation in China is the