IV

PATIENT IN TRIBULATION


The long anticipated home-coming was a very sad one. During the hot summer
months Mr. Ahok had grown steadily weaker, and he died almost three months
before his wife reached Foochow. It was a great comfort to those who had
been instrumental in arranging for Mrs. Ahok's trip to England to remember
how fully her husband had approved of the plan. Miss Bradshaw said: "I
shall never forget the bright way in which Mr. Ahok faced all the dangers
and difficulties of the journey on which he was sending Mrs. Ahok. As he
said good-bye at the anchorage, he said he did it gladly, for the sake of
getting more workers for China." Not even when sick and suffering did he
regret having let his wife go, although he missed her greatly. He wrote
Miss Bradshaw, during his illness, "I realize how great God's grace is, in
allowing Mrs. Ahok to visit England, and I am so thankful to all the
Christian friends who have helped her and been kind to her."

Mrs. Ahok's brother, her nephew, and Dr. Sites, who had long been a friend
of hers and of Mr. Ahok's, met her with a houseboat at the steamer
anchorage; and during the twelve-mile ride up the river, the sad news was
told. The shock almost stunned Mrs. Ahok at first, but with realization
came heart-rending grief. Miss Mead, the young missionary who had come from
England with her, wrote soon after their arrival: "Yesterday afternoon I
went with three of the ladies to see her. The expression on her face was
altered and according to Chinese custom she was very shabbily dressed. Her