They felt his hands and his fingers,
and finally decided that, in spite of his queer looks, he was
after all a man.
From that day the young missionary and the herd-boys were great
friends. Every day he joined them in the buffalo pasture, and
would spend from four to five hours with them. And as they were
very willing to talk, he not only learned their language rapidly,
but also learned much about their homes, their schools, their
customs, and their religion.
One day, after a lengthy lesson from his servant, the latter
decided that the barbarian was unbearable, and bundling up his
clothes he marched off, without so much as "by your leave." So
Mackay fell back entirely upon his little teachers on the common.
With their assistance in the daytime and his Chinese-English
dictionary at night, he made wonderful progress.
He was left alone now, to get his own meals and keep the swarms
of flies and the damp mold out of his hut by the riverside. He
soon learned to eat rice and water-buffalo meat, but he missed
the milk and butter and cheese of his old Canadian home.
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