Whenever it has been possible I have thrown the responsibility of sustaining the missions upon the localities in which they are situated.  And in many cases this responsibility has been assumed with a cheerfulness and a generosity, considering the times, which has been greatly encouraging to me.  And I cannot but hope that herein will be found one of the compensations for our anxiety and pain—­a deeper and more general interest on the part of Christian people in this branch of the service of their Lord.  One of the teachers, giving an account of a meeting which she held in the interest of her mission, anticipates such a result and says:  “I feel sure that my hard, lonesome times are over, and that after this I shall have more help and sympathy.  Isn’t it wonderful how doing a hard duty will sometimes straighten out so many tangles?”

I venture to close this little sketch of hard heartwork with another quotation from this same teacher:  “I sympathize with you in not being able to pay us teachers as you would like to do when you know how we work.  But don’t worry any more over me, for I shall manage splendidly (as I always do?).  I guess you feel a good deal worse over it than we teachers do.  Sacrifice is in order for missionaries and preachers, but we get pay that the world knows not of—­rewards as much above money as heaven is above earth.”

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BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK.

MISS D.E.  EMERSON, SECRETARY.

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ANNUAL MEETING.

The Woman’s Meeting will be held on Thursday afternoon, October 25th, as one of the regular sessions of the American Missionary Association Annual Meeting, at Lowell, Mass.  The programme will include reports from the State Unions, and missionary addresses by Miss Kate La Grange, from the mountains of Tennessee; Miss Mary P. Lord, associate of Miss Collins in the Indian work; and missionaries from the South.

We hope for a large attendance from ladies’ and young people’s societies.  Do not limit your attendance to this woman’s day.  Come to the opening meeting Tuesday, and attend all the sessions.  The secretary of the Woman’s Bureau will have a room at the church for a rallying point, where the ladies and missionaries can meet for mutual acquaintance and information.  Notice of entertainment and railroad rates will be found on last page of cover.

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A FEW WORDS TO BOYS.

The American Missionary Association needs the help of every boy.  Send to the Bible House, New York, for leaflets that will tell what the American Missionary Association is, and what it is trying to do, especially for the Indians.

Read the following letter, by Miss Mary P. Lord, our missionary among the Sioux Indians, and let us know what you will do to help teach Indian boys how to become good men: 

Dear Boys: