76 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



in considerable numbers to this place for purposes 

 of trade, exchange and barter. 



The officials of the company were most kind in 

 their welcome to the newly arrived missionary. 

 They hospitably received him into their own houses 

 until his hut could be built. This, too, was 

 built for him by the company. Trade, when it is 

 thus the handmaid of Christ, is an unmitigated 

 blessing. It is a pleasing duty to give a tribute of 

 praise to men who bring the Gospel into the busi- 

 ness life as in this case. If all the boundless trade 

 of England went hand in hand with the spiritual 

 welfare of the world, the mountains would soon be 

 made low and the valleys,'exalted, and the highway 

 for the Empire of Christ prepared. 



The logs of which Mr. Peck's hut was built had 

 been brought from an immense distance. They 

 were placed in a framework of other logs ; the 

 spaces between them were packed with oakum. 

 The whole of the hut was encased in weather board- 

 ing. Inside, the place was warmed and cheered 

 with a little stove, and as the hut had to be 

 kitchen and drawing-room in one, all the cooking 

 must needs be done at that stove. 



" Mine was a real bachelor's life," writes Mr. 

 Peck, referring to this period, " and I had to learn 

 to do all my own cooking, presently even mastering 

 the mysteries of bread-making, though it is right 

 to confess (and ladies will appreciate the confession) 



