Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-24

| for a long time that her life was de.
! SPARED of. Then her beloved father who
had stood by her bed through her ILL
| ness, fell i'll also and died while she was
yet unable TO leave her bed. and so in
| stead of going back to the seminary she
entered for a time the school of suffering
| In 1S41. however. she returned to Mount
| Holyoke as a member of the senior class
| When very little girl Fidelia used
often to play she was a missionary an6
had always been much interested in mis-
| sionary subjects. She was but three years
| old when her uncle. Rev. Pliny Fiske
went to the Holy Land as a missionary
and his letters had been always a source
| of eager interest to her. While she was
| at Mount Holyoke she came in contact
/ with a number of missionaries among
them DR.. Perkins of Persia, and while
looking over his book. Eight Years Res
idence in Persia" she exclaimed: How
l should love to teach those children!"
Becomes a Missionary.
Not long after this DR.. Perkins made a
| request for two teachers to go back to
Persia with him. Miss Lyon tod the stu
dents at evening prayers about it, and
said that any young ladies who would like
to go might send her note privately. and
no one need know who besides the select
ed ones had written. Forty young ladies
| responded. among them Miss Fiske, who
had now become a teacher In the semi
nary. She merely wrote:
IF counted worthy, l should be willing
to go" She was the only one who raised
a question as to her worthinesS
Without hesitation she was chosen and
was 10 select her companion from the
others. but when her mother came to be
consulted she was so decidedly against
the plan on account of Miss Ffske's frail
condition since her illness that at last she
gave 1t up. Some one else was selected
in her place, but her friends in turn OBJ
jectinS seriously. Miss Fiske still felt the
desire 10 go and at last succeeded in per-
suading her mother to consent.
In March, lS43, she sailed for SMYRNA
They reached Constantinople In April,
and then had before them land journey
of seven or eight hundred miles through a
mountainous region filled with robbers
and with poor accommodations for travel
ers. But they passed safely through Ii
all to Urumia, where they were to labor
For nine years there had been work
done among the HISTORIANS and the in
tolerant government had at last come to
look upon the mission with more favor
though one of the oldest missionaries
said he did not know of five in the whole
HISTORIAN nation who We're true Chris
tians. Miss Fiske began at once to study
the language. and soon was able to begin
teaching. 1t was proposed to establish a
seminary for women and Miss Fiske was
to have charge of it,
The year 1916 brought wonderful
harvest of souls to those who had Long
worked and prayed. Up to that time
there had been few conversions, but sud
denly the Holy Spirit seemed to come
among them, and many as fifty out
side of the seminary became intelligent
Christians. Later that year cholera broke
out and for some time the school was
dlsbanded. The next year Miss Fiske
LETT the school in charge of three of her
eldest pupils while she made a visit TO
a distant mountain Marsheboo, where
no woman missionary had ever been be-
fore on account Of the difficulties of the
way.
Miss Fiske's life was a busy one She
was once summoned to SER to help in
entertaining the English. Russian and
Persian commissioners, who had been
appointed to fix the boundary between
Turkey and Persia. She took many f1y-
story of Jesus. and her large family of
girls in the school were a heavy drain
upon her strength. Her eyesight began
to be affected. and after trying rest and
treatment, still she was no better. Her
general health broke down. and in 1858 it
became necessary for her to leave her
beloved work and her weeping, c1inging.
loving pupils and return to America
The girls helped her to prepare for the
journey, and Miss Fiske wrote to her
mother: I'VE cannot sew very Well our
eyes are full of tears"
Miss Fiske still had hopes of returning
to Persia, but as she could not go inn
mediately she was offered finally the po-
sition of principal at Mount Holyoke, and
accepting, entered upon the last Year of
her labors on this earth.