Page:Women of distinction.djvu/283

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WOMEN OF DISTINCTION.
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till Christmas, 1889. By this time the ladies of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the West had selected her to be their second representative in the great Congo Valley. Then came the task of giving up a devoted grandmother, who declared she could not live through a separation from her, as well as Misses Packard and Giles, who had endeared themselves to her beyond mention, and a host of others who formed a circle of as true and fond friends as ever lived. This trial daunted not the frail, beautiful girl's faith, but she attended the tearful farewell services arranged at Spelman, and took a joyful leave of this host of dear ones for Africa on the 10th of March, 1889. After a long journey from Atlanta to Boston she looked out for the first time in her life upon the sea and thought what other than a divine call to Africa could induce her to face the perils of the sea. On the 16th day of the same month she embarked by the Cunard Line from Boston. While waiting for an African bound ship in London this "Daughter of the King" had it revealed to her that it was even as the grandmother had said—her parting was too much and had proved God's means to gather her to Himself. She mentioned this to Miss Royal, her traveling companion, with a sweet peace and resignation that she herself could not understand. This was no longer a vision when, on her arrival in the Congo, she found a letter there awaiting her telling her what she had for weeks known. Still this peace was hers, and she set herself about learning the language and the work with cheerfulness. Her father had been for years a deacon