228 OVER ON THE ISLAND

dollars would be slight prevention. So it stands there still—a shabby house with proud memories. Here lived the Gordon family.

Inspired by the example of the Reverend John Geddie, the Reverend George and Mrs. Gordon sailed to the South Seas to devote their lives to Christianizing the heathen. In 1857, they arrived at Erromanga. The ravages of measles had been very severe on that island, and the heathen ascribed this illness to the new missionary. They determined to take revenge. Despite all their threats, however, the minister went about his regular work. In 1861, both husband and wife were treacherously slain. James D. Gordon, on hearing of his brother’s fate, determined to go on with the work. In 1864, he arrived at Erromanga. In 1872, he, too, was murdered.

In a small private cemetery in Montrose, filled with white birch, spruce and poplar, lie the parents of the martyrs, their brothers and sister. In far-OE Erro- manga of the South Seas sleep James and George in a land which is now Christian.

There is something definitely alluring about Mont- rose. We determined to stay . . . Down by the river we took a cabin with two other girls and promised ourselves a lazy week. Across the river junction the Sou’west peered at us from her cosy summer houses.

I suppose these camping days will seem like a dream years hence . . Swimming and diving, tanning and hiking. How perfectly perfect! And, in the evenings, after the sun had set, we lighted a bonfire on the beach and toasted marshmallows. In turns we took the canoe and wandered up and down the river amid the strange shadows, returning frequently