How the Gospel was First Carried, 259 
The little praying band hung up curtains all round the 
reed walls, so as to secure some amount of privacy, and 
then devoted those terrible hours of suspense to the work 
of earnest prayer. From the depths of the heart did those 
petitions go up, for themselves and their little ones, doomed 
to a cruel death. It was their determination to die praying, 
if the determination of the people were really carried out. 
Midnight drew on, and still the conference was kept up out- 
side, while one after another, the voices of the little praying 
band sought the Throne of Grace. Which way could the 
decision be? All at once, a wild yell was heard, which 
they accepted as the first call to the murderers to enter, and 
do their work. But then other yells followed, and presently 
they discovered that these were merely cries to the other 
natives to come out and hold a dance. Thus, the danger 
was averted; the people had determined to let the strangers 
alone, at least for that time. We may imagine how swiftly 
the pleading prayer of helpless trouble, helpless in its 
impotency against cannibal might, would be changed to 
psalms of thanksgiving. But they scarcely dared to sing. 
Any such vocal manifestation of joy would have been offen- 
sive to the people ; for, even as they closed their doors and 
windows to keep out the stench of the human sacrifices 
and feasts, they were threatened with death for doing so. 
Many of the common people would have shown their 
friendliness to Christianity, however, and embraced the new 
faith, but that they were debarred by fear of the vengeance 
of their chiefs. Tui Thakow, and his son Tuikilakila, 
threatened to kill, and eat, any who became Christians. In 
secret, there were a few who would fain have taken up 
with the new faith, and have shown kindness to the mission- 
aries, but the fear of the terrible fate threatened by the 
chief, kept them from confessing any attachment to Christi- 
