274 MISSIONARY LIFE 
vania* which made them quiver. Had the inter- 
ests of this mission been left entirely to the wis- 
dom of men, it would have been abandoned ; but 
God himself came to the rescue and saved to the 
Church this important field. 
J. K. Billheimer. 
February, 1879. 
LETTER FROM MRS. GOMER. 
My health is not the best. The house-work in 
the mission, with nine heathen children, is no easy 
task. ISo person but those who have been placed! 
in the same situation can form the slightest idea 
of the amount of patience required. My Lewis- 
burg class of seven little girls has grown to fif- 
teen or twenty. There are some little boys in it;, 
and it is no use to try to send them away. I teach 
them in Thomas Caulker’s gate-house. You know 
how it is arranged. Last Sabbath, just after 
service commenced in Flickinger Chapel, — which 
was well filled, — a woman with her babe went 
and sat on the front steps. A snake came and 
bit her .on the foot. She screamed, and nearly all 
the people left the church. They killed the snake. 
For several hours the woman was in great pain,, 
but she will recover. M. W. Gomer. 
Freetown, West Africa, May 10, 1879. 
