Page 179 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 179
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
but when I stood next to Percy and his warm hand reached out and held mine under my veil, I forgot
about being nervous and began to enjoy the service.
We only had to go to the other side of the compound for the reception, and could have walked across,
but Uncle George insisted on driving us in his car and depositing us at the front door of the Mission
Home in style! For the rest of the afternoon we were surrounded by friends and well wishers, 120 of
them in all. Since we had been living in the Mission Home for the past six weeks, we knew
everybody, and there was a lovely feeling of being one big family.
Doug did his part as Best Man beautifully and even made a speech at the wedding ending with a joke
he had only heard and thought was entirely new! “Zaccheus was up a tree - and so am I. Zaccheus
came down - and so will I!” He was loudly clapped, even by those who had heard it a hundred times
before. After the reception I went upstairs to see Mrs. Hoste who was too frail to come down to such a
crowd, but wanted to see my dress. Then I went up to the hospital to show it off to Mrs. Barling who
was ill and couldn’t leave her bed. I changed then, and the Moores and the Andrews, Percy, Doug
and I all went over to the Hardman’s flat for the rest of the evening. We were not hungry, but the
Hardmans had left a delicious meal for us before they took themselves off for the evening. It was our
last family get together for some time.
Percy and I were not looking forward to the train trip to Kaifeng as we were travelling second class and
the train was crowded, so we would be lucky if we could even get seats together. Uncle George
suggested he and Auntie Fan would go down early and be there when the train got in to try and save
us two seats together. So off they went and we waited for some time before we left because the train
was not leaving till midnight, and there was no point in being there too early. When we got there, we
went along to the second class carriages to look for Uncle George. We finally saw him some distance
further down beckoning to us, and we arrived at last in front of a first class compartment labelled as
reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Percy Moore. Uncle had paid the extra so that we could have it to ourselves
and also get two nights’ rest instead of sitting up in the second class. It was such a lovely surprise
after we had been preparing ourselves to battle with the crowds in the second class.
The family didn’t wait till midnight but said goodbye and left us about 11 pm. We pulled down the
blinds, sorted ourselves out and got ourselves settled in for the night. Just before we were due to pull
out Percy pulled up the blind and looked out just in case anybody had come down to see us off. To
his great surprise a huge ‘Just Married’ sign had been plastered across our window. We discovered
later that Mr. Welch and some of the Chefoo boys had sneaked down just to make sure we were
labelled! Percy got out and wiped it off, vowing vengeance!
After our wedding Percys mother wrapped up some of our wedding cake and gave it to Ivy Dix to take
to Australia with her and post to my mother, so that the family could all have a share. Percy’s mother
also wrote to my mother, understanding with that sensitive spirit of hers how much she would be
feeling the separation from me on this most important time in my life.
She said, “Our only regret was that Amy hadn’t any of her own immediate family with her, but
I think she will tell you that love was showered on them both. It was a day that none of us will
ever forget. I don’t need to tell you that Amy looked charming, so sweet and lovely and I
know that many had tender thoughts as they saw her walk up the aisle. In fact, both
Percy and she looked just fine. They give promise of being a happy pair. At the end of the
day Amy said, “Why, I’ve quite enjoyed my wedding day!” I think she was afraid of
feeling very nervous but she was so simple and sweet, everyone fell in love with her. I have
often meant to write to you dear Mrs. Weir, to tell you how glad and proud we are of our dear
179
Amy Moore
but when I stood next to Percy and his warm hand reached out and held mine under my veil, I forgot
about being nervous and began to enjoy the service.
We only had to go to the other side of the compound for the reception, and could have walked across,
but Uncle George insisted on driving us in his car and depositing us at the front door of the Mission
Home in style! For the rest of the afternoon we were surrounded by friends and well wishers, 120 of
them in all. Since we had been living in the Mission Home for the past six weeks, we knew
everybody, and there was a lovely feeling of being one big family.
Doug did his part as Best Man beautifully and even made a speech at the wedding ending with a joke
he had only heard and thought was entirely new! “Zaccheus was up a tree - and so am I. Zaccheus
came down - and so will I!” He was loudly clapped, even by those who had heard it a hundred times
before. After the reception I went upstairs to see Mrs. Hoste who was too frail to come down to such a
crowd, but wanted to see my dress. Then I went up to the hospital to show it off to Mrs. Barling who
was ill and couldn’t leave her bed. I changed then, and the Moores and the Andrews, Percy, Doug
and I all went over to the Hardman’s flat for the rest of the evening. We were not hungry, but the
Hardmans had left a delicious meal for us before they took themselves off for the evening. It was our
last family get together for some time.
Percy and I were not looking forward to the train trip to Kaifeng as we were travelling second class and
the train was crowded, so we would be lucky if we could even get seats together. Uncle George
suggested he and Auntie Fan would go down early and be there when the train got in to try and save
us two seats together. So off they went and we waited for some time before we left because the train
was not leaving till midnight, and there was no point in being there too early. When we got there, we
went along to the second class carriages to look for Uncle George. We finally saw him some distance
further down beckoning to us, and we arrived at last in front of a first class compartment labelled as
reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Percy Moore. Uncle had paid the extra so that we could have it to ourselves
and also get two nights’ rest instead of sitting up in the second class. It was such a lovely surprise
after we had been preparing ourselves to battle with the crowds in the second class.
The family didn’t wait till midnight but said goodbye and left us about 11 pm. We pulled down the
blinds, sorted ourselves out and got ourselves settled in for the night. Just before we were due to pull
out Percy pulled up the blind and looked out just in case anybody had come down to see us off. To
his great surprise a huge ‘Just Married’ sign had been plastered across our window. We discovered
later that Mr. Welch and some of the Chefoo boys had sneaked down just to make sure we were
labelled! Percy got out and wiped it off, vowing vengeance!
After our wedding Percys mother wrapped up some of our wedding cake and gave it to Ivy Dix to take
to Australia with her and post to my mother, so that the family could all have a share. Percy’s mother
also wrote to my mother, understanding with that sensitive spirit of hers how much she would be
feeling the separation from me on this most important time in my life.
She said, “Our only regret was that Amy hadn’t any of her own immediate family with her, but
I think she will tell you that love was showered on them both. It was a day that none of us will
ever forget. I don’t need to tell you that Amy looked charming, so sweet and lovely and I
know that many had tender thoughts as they saw her walk up the aisle. In fact, both
Percy and she looked just fine. They give promise of being a happy pair. At the end of the
day Amy said, “Why, I’ve quite enjoyed my wedding day!” I think she was afraid of
feeling very nervous but she was so simple and sweet, everyone fell in love with her. I have
often meant to write to you dear Mrs. Weir, to tell you how glad and proud we are of our dear
179
