Page 183 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

NEGLECTED .IK.lHI.l i.

iu>l bright day, our landlord brought lii^ corps of donkey boys win*
cleared Hie roof of its quantities of old sandy earth and tramped dowi
in its stead, quantities of what we hope is proper water-shedding cla\
There was also the problem of walls. Yawning cracks and holes, and
5|»ikes six inches and more long and nails abound. These spikes insinn
ate their ugly, rusty, inch-broad heads in the most unlikely place*
They have been driven in at random, anywhere from ceiling to tl< MM
and from end to end of almost every room. To pull them out would
lie, perhaps, to pull our crumbling walls down upon our heads. To
cover some with pictures, to extract some and to bear with the rest lill
balmier days is our programme.
The carpenter must nut be omitted from our account. Without him
we should have utterly failed. An old man, dignified, mostly blind
beard died red in true Persian fashion, there he sat amid empty kerosinc
boxes and pieces of Miss Scardeiield’s Kurd packing case, our chief
budding materials—no square, no ruler, manipulating his tools and wood
with both feet and hands, cluttering the court, and accomplishing a con
dderable amount in what seemed interminable days. “At your service.
at your service, madam; I’ll do all exactly as you say” is ever on hi>
i lips; but alas, alas, the frame for the mat partition-was made several
niches higher than the length of the mats which were to cover it, and
that after elaborate measurings with sticks and strings; and many a
I crack and split, and many a gaping nail hole give lasting testimony to
die trial of spoiled materials and wasted time. Still, but for him, our
food should still be prepared in the old kitchen with its ant-eaten rafter*
only just intact between the burden of the clay above and the hanging
,uot beneath; but for him, we should have no closet for our dishes . no
tuwel racks, no shelves, and no place to hang our clothes. \
Dux cupboards and the like call for paint. As only prime colors a re
m be had, there were ventures into paint mixing. The rich brown in
ihc mind’s eye turned out a bit over red in the case of one table, and a
cupboard erred in the direction of olive green in the attempt to modify
die shade. Coats of white were sometimes a bit too thin to hide the
>iaring lion on the kerosine oil boxes of current brand. Linseed oil
from the hospital proved invaluable to restore rain-bespattered furniture,
ami common castor oil has lubricated many a rusty bolt and hinge.
The climax was the final scrubbing of the courtyard. Armed with
buckets of sea water, and with one of the females to inspire them to
their supreme effort, our barefoot boys dug their toes into the paving
uunes, pouring on water the while and scouring them with might and
main till no remnant of clay or splash of paint found place there any
’milder. .....
And so we are at home in a native house hi Kuweit. \\ hile we look
iur better things in the future—and we must have a proper house-
ihcre is no dark thing which we would tear to reveal; rough place*
to a considerable extent been made smooth; and we have done our
lot in a practical manner to prepare the way of the Lord in this par
ticulur neighborhood. We believe He will honor our preparations and
(race our home with His presence, and that the House on the hill will
m iume true sense be as a city that cannot be hid.