Kijabe,
B.E.A. May 29, 1919
Dear
Mama and the rest:
There’s
a boat leaving Mombasa next Tues for England so I want to get
this
off on that. Dr and Mrs Henderson have been living at Mombasa
for
two months or more waiting for a boat and are now getting away
on
this one. Mr and Mrs Caldwell and 3 children are getting away
too. He had small pox in Jan. at the same time that Mr. Wight
was sick and
died. All were at Kangundo. Caldwells are here now visiting at
Hetzes, but will leave Monday morning for the coast. We were
at
Hetzes for the day yesterday so we had a nice visit with them.
Mr.
Caldwell’s face is so terribly pitted. The children are having
fever and all are very run down so are anxious to get home.
Forgot
to say we are camping. Guess I’ve not written a letter since
we
decided to stay here for our vacation. I wrote Lora a card
&
intended writing a letter at once but until we got out here I
was
pretty busy. All during the vacation month we were 18 at the
tables
and our prayermeetings every A.M. from 10-12 and P.M. 2-4 have
kept
up and evenings too- & I’ve attended whenever I could.
Course
I’d let the boys see to the meals. I’d make the desserts and
plan the rest of the meal & the native boys would do the
work;
but it took a good deal time even to do that much. Then I had
R’s
Arithmetic too - as he has been making up some work so he can
go into
fourth year work next week. He’s been working like a Trojan
but so
have I to keep him at it. Well then last Sat. when Miss Slater
came
back to R.V.A. & said she was going to look after the
kitchen I
said then we’ll get out and so we found a nice sheltered quiet
spot
about 2 minutes from the school building & we 4 are
camping -
cooking for ourselves too. It’s like leaving Brooklyn &
moving
to Dutch Heights.
Such
a lot of commotion & slamming & pounding nailing up
boxes &
some opening others etc etc that we were glad to leave - don’t
know
how long we’ll stay here. but John was not well for awhile
& I
got thin too and we know there’s plenty of hard work waiting
for us
over there so I think we’ll camp for two weeks at least &
perhaps more if the weather stays fine. When Tagi comes to get
us he
is bringing Miss Simpsons things and she will stay here til
she goes
home which we hope will be very soon. She & Miss Slater
are
planning to go together via India & China.
When
school closed and everybody was leaving, the children (R.
& C.)
felt rather disappointed that they couldn’t go too so we got
Miss
Slater to take them & Downings boys & Alfred &
Eddie
Ellson, up to Lake Nakuru leaving here Fri & returning Mon
morning early. Miss Kennedy a new worker & young &
gushy was
“crazy” to go along & went. They took two tents &
plenty
of eats etc. But Miss Slater got sick with bowel trouble which
threatened dysentery so Miss K had to look after the eats for
that
crowd of hungry boys & Sun. P.M. when they were ab’t ready
to
pack up & board the car that was waiting for them, it
began to
rain terribly hard & blow so the tents came down &
they got
soaked & were cold too but got on board any way & got
some
sleep, but Miss Slater wa so ill she could do nothing &
Miss K.
had a good deal of the “gush” taken out of her and asked Miss
S.
if that’s the way camp life usually goes. Every one came home
early Mon. morn. tired & hungry & most uncomfortable
but the
boys declared they had a good time any way. Miss S. went to
the
hospital for two weeks or more & Miss K. staid in bed all
day
Mon. The boys said they’d like to go again if “Daddy” would go
but they didn’t want to go with ladies again. Miss K. goes to
Congo and will rub up against worse things than having to feed
hungry
boys.
Miss
Slater was so done out at the end of the term that we decided
to stay
& I take charge of the kitchen for the boarders. &
it’s
well we did that for it was only a day or two & Miss S.
was in
bed & needed nursing. She got along well & after 3
weeks she
came back and as she was in the building any way & I had
to ask
her about most every thing she decided she’d do the kitchen
work &
turn us off and we were not sorry. We have the big tent up
which has
a good sized bath but the bath has no fly so we put our little
tent
over that part so if it rains we wont get wet & we put the
boys
beds just as far back as we could & ours next so we are
quite
comfy [diagram of where each bed was] and the fly extends 6 ft
or so
to the front making a nice veranda where we have our chop
boxes, &
wash basin etc. A boy does our cooking & I’m mending &
sewing for the boys & visiting some too for altho we’ve
been
here so long having school work I didn’t get away much.
School
begins again next Mon. June 2. Say Al. bake Jno a birthday
cake for
next Tues. & then I’ll invite you to P.M. tea at the tent.
41!!! just think how old he’s getting.
Andersens
came down last week. She is getting better. Hasn’t had a spell
for a month but is still very weak & stays in bed most of
the
time. She was at the hospital at first but now is at Downings.
Miss
Hansen is with her. Mr. A. has gone up the line to Lumbwa to
get
things fixed up there for them. They have been on Scoutens
station
since Mr. S. died but Mr. A- was not happy there & she has
been
so very ill that they decided they couldn’t stay there.
Mr
& Mrs Brolin (Swedish) hope to get off very soon too, for
home. They’ve been waiting for a boat for a long time. They
want to go
via Suez Canal - Caldwells go by the Cape and Miss Slater
& Miss
Simpson go by way of India & China & a Mr. Clarke
(British)
went via the Nile route. Quite a variety to suit most any
taste and
pocket book.
Mr.
& Mrs. Knapp have just returned from U.S.A. via of China.
You’ll
remember they were in the party when I first came & had a
little
girl named Alta. She is now quite a young lady & they’ve
left
her at home to be educated. That makes me feel - O so old!
We’re
going to have turnips & potatoes boiled together for
dinner &
if Miss Slater got some bacon for us we’ll have some with it.
If
not then I’ll open a tin of corned beef.
Jno
and I called at Brolins yesterday and she does such pretty
embroidery
work. Has a little girl about 2 and every thing is tatted
&
embroidered so pretty. And she gave me a white waist that she
had
embroidered beautifully but it buttoned in the back and as she
was
going home she couldn’t wear it there as its out of style and
then
too she expects a newcomer in a few months.
Now
its time to hear C’s Arithmetic. Little Samuel Caldwell has
come
to play so they are anxious to finish their work.
-
- P.M. The twins returned on this mornings train so they are
here
playing with the boys.
The
Congo party hope to get started tomorrow. They started or
tried to
start two weeks ago but the Lord hindered. It was the funniest
thing
& yet no one could say any one else was to blame.
Mr.
Bell (Agnes’s husband) had gone to Nairobi the day before and
was
to come on the train they were to take but when the train came
in Mr
Bell wasn’t there but all his belongings were. There were 3
men in
the carriage but they didn’t seem to know anything about him.
Then
a telegram was handed one of the party sent by Mr Barnett who
was at
Nairobi & shared the compartment with Mr B & these
others -
it said “take out so many parcels belonging to Bell &
Barnett.” It all seemed so mysterious. Course we all knew Mr
Bell had gone to
get quite a lot of money & that made it still more
strange. There are two trains up on Sat. the first about 4:30
is a thro train
for lake passengers only. The next is for any one stopping
along the
line. On the 2nd one Mr Barnett came but couldn’t
tell
anything about Mr Bell.
Another
crazy rule is that telegraph offices are closed after noon on
Sat. &
messages are only sent by train, so Mr Bell had no way of
letting
them know. In the meantime there were two wagon loads of boxes
being
taken down & it was raining pretty hard most all A.M.
& some
in P.M. and one wagon got too near the outer side of the road
&
the soil being soft & the wagon loaded heavy it sunk down
on one
side & the boxes went crashing into the ravine below so
the train
came in & pulled out again before they could have gotten
them to
the station. The other wagon also got stuck but nearer the
station &
the loads were carried in. Well, the party all came back -
tired &
muddy & hardly knowing what to think. Those of us who have
been
praying for a revival asked the Lord to hinder if he didn’t
want
them to go at that time. and strange to say almost none of
them
wanted to go on at that time.
Well
what had become of Mr Bell. He turned up the next morning on a
goods
or freight train. He missed the first train because of waiting
for
his bicycle. Then when he saw the train leave he wheeled as
fast as
he could hoping to catch it before it reached the next station
15
miles ahead. but all at once he saw his tire was flat. Then he
wheeled back & hailed an auto and tried to get there with
that
but one thing after another hindered & when he finally saw
they
couldn’t make it he told the driver to return as fast as
possible
to catch that 2nd train. and the old car had every
thing wrong with it & they pulled into the station
just as
the 2nd train pulled out. So he paid off his man
&
took his wheel to the wheel doctor & picked up his lantern
&
camera & started to walk to the next station expecting
really to
walk right thro to Kijabe but it was raining & up hill so
he
slipt back about as fast as he went forward & when he got
to
Kikuyu station 8 P.M. the station master made him tea &
told him
he better wait for the freight. Guards on freight trains
aren’t
supposed to let passengers on but this one did let him on
& he
got home Sun. morning. But to hear him tell it is much funnier
in
his Southern brogue.
Now
they hope to get off tomorrow. The Lake Albert boat runs only
every
two weeks, so when they missed the other train they had to
wait two
weeks. They are moving the office up to Aba. Mr. Hurlburt
thinks
‘twill get things thro quicker as mail coming down the Nile is
more
direct only lately boats have been very scarce but we hope for
better
service.
Just
heard that the “Gascon” boat on which this letter was to go is
not sailing til the 7th but no matter. I’ll get
this
off & then ‘twill be sure to go.
Mrs.
Hurlburt will be so lonely without Agnes that I may go over
&
spend tomorrow P.M. with her instead of going to the station.
The
other time it rained so we didn’t go any place.
Mr.
Hurlburt has been ill so much lately. Guess I wrote you that
Paul &
Dr Morse are engaged. I’ve not said any thing to Mrs H- about
it
for she feels so badly. Dr. is 14 years older than Paul, which
makes
it seem such a mistake.
This
is decoration day in America. Wonder if you are celebrating in
any
way.
The
children have found a swarm of bees in a bush & want daddy
to get
it for them. They have a box fixed for them. They had a swarm
but
it died - it was so cold & wet.
This
envelope is one Agnes addressed for the boys when they wrote
you some
time or other & then gave it to me so I thot I’d use it.
Most
supper time so I’ll stop & get this ready to mail. Miss
Slater
baked some cookies for us today. She sees that we don’t
starve. She wants to go home just as soon as money comes. She
is terribly in
need of rest & change. Don’t know who will take her place.
Miss Simpson will go with her. She too has over run her
strength &
should have been home long ago. Perhaps I mentioned they’ll go
via
India & China. Mr Guilding (British) and Mr Tyler (Am.)
have
just left by that route. Every boat going toward home is crowded
but via India not so much so. We hear another party of 5 is on
the
way out. Hope McQuilkins are among them. Left May 7.
Jno
will soon be here & I must set the table. We’ve had no
mail
lately for we sent all to Narok but Tagi will bring it when he
comes.
Much
love to every body - all round the circle. I wrote Cora a
birthday
letter - written on her birthday & Jno uses the
type
writer for translation so I decided to use the pen. He has
only
Romans to do & finish Epistle of Jno then we’ll have all
copied
that’s translated. Tagi & Mulungit are working at Matthew.
Will
try to write again before leaving here.
Lovingly,
Flo
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