Jesus, who had sent them in to save the starving. They were very kind, and gave the people work, widening and draining the road. My new father was greatly impressed by all this, and I overheard him say that such a doctrine as this was worth listening to.
It was at that time that my new-found friends determined to leave that part and retire to their home far away in the country. A long boat journey brought us at last to a small farm, lying at the foot of a steep hill, crowned, as is usual, by a temple. Here in this new home I began a new life. My friends were very religious, and belonged to the vegetarians. Nearly all the best and most spiritual people in China belong to this sect. They are earnest worshippers of idols, and give large sums of money to priests, and in their life are careful and self-denying. One of their chief reasons for becoming vegetarians was that they had no son. This they regarded as the sure sign of the wrath of the gods. To appease them they had made many pilgrimages to famous shrines, but without finding peace.
When New Year came, there was a celebrated and much-attended festival on the Fairy Hill, near our home. From far and near crowds came to worship in the temple of the goddess, bestower of sons and healer of smallpox. Beggars, in all stages of filthiness, lined the roads reaping a rich harvest from the worshippers, eager to accumulate merit by acts of charity. My father joined the procession that started one day from our village. Fasting and in silence they wended their way across the fields, each man with a stick of burning
