The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1881, Page 7

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‘The Lutheran Pioneer.

In God’s Care.

One night, when Mr. Hansen, a rich Swedish

~ merchant, was visiting Pomerania with his son,
he took lodgings at a neat looking inn, where
many years before he had passed three days.
It had been pleasant weather then, but now
the wind raged fiercely, and the sea lashed it-
The hardiest of men had left
the coast, anc-shivering with the cold had gone
Edmund, the son of the
merchant Hansen, went out to look about him,
wrapped in a great woolen cloak, but soon came
in, and said to the white-haired landlady:
No
one in his senses would dare to go out on the

self into fury.

to their homes.

“What fearful weather, Mother Martens!

sea just now.”’

“That is true enough, young man; no good

would come of it,’’ said the old woman.

“You could very easily weather such a
storm,’’ said Edmund smiling. ‘‘Such a voyage
as you once made is not taken very often. My
You are shielded
said the
old woman, ‘‘we are everywhere under the eye
of God. Those whom He keeps are well kept.”’

“That is true, Mother Martens,’ said the
“You have had proof of God’s

father has told me about it.
from wind and wave.’ ‘“Hush!’’

merchant.
power and goodness. The storm is still raging;

let us close the shutters, and hear the story
Edmund will be

from beginning to end.
pleased to know all about it.’’

“I do not like to speak of myself,’’ said the

woman; one should leave that to others.

However, you are right, sir; this story may
be useful to the young gentleman, and, as

-there is nothing more to be done outside, I will

tell you how God gave me proof of His watch-

ful care.”

At these words the good old woman closed
the shutters, put the kettle on the fire, and
when the water was hot and the tea served, she
began:

“You see, sir, Jam an old woman. I have
lived many long years in this strange country;
but the day I left my own land is as distinct
in my memory as if it were yesterday. The
cabin of my parents was on the seacoast in the
southern part of Sweden. Ihave never had
riches. Our greatest treasure was a cow,
spotted black and white. We had raised her
and she was dear to us. It was my business to
lead her every day to pasture. In Summer it
was very pleasant, but not soin Winter. My
father was a fisherman, and when the snow
covered the country, and the sea was frozen
Over, we Suffered much. Once we might have
died of hunger if it had not been for the cow.
The poor creature was the object of all our care.

“One time the Winter was more severe than
usual, the snow was piled up in heaps all around
our cabin, and I, scarcely sixteen years old,
longed for the Spring as the bird for the sun.
At last, one cold, misty day, the sun drew me
to the door, and I led our cow along the shore,
where, here and there, at the foot of the banks
of sand, were some tufts of grass, The cow

Suddenly she ran toward the sea, which was
covered with thick ice that cracked and broke
as she moved over it. She reached a large cake
of ice, and standing on it, tried to drink. I
had gone with her. I kept close to her side,
and saw in the distance great blocks of ice
carried away by the tide. I felt the ice under
us move. I called to the cow and tried to
drive her to the shore, but she had not drunk
enough and would not stir; I cried aloud, I
seized the cow and drew her with all my
strength, and, I shudder to think of it, the ice
on which we were broke loose from the shore
and began to drift out toward the open sea!

“To right and left, before and behind, the
ice was carried away. I looked around. I was
going farther and farther from the land. I was
numb with fear. The ice on which we were
floated on as a small boat. The cow shook
with cold. The swift tide pressed on us and
drove us ahead; darkness came on; the sun
had set long ago, and now it was black night.
The waves broke on our ice cake—I fell on my
knees—I prayed. The cow had lain down.
I stretched myself close to her; this warmed
me. Then I thought of my father, my mother,
who would look for me so anxiously. I was
filled with grief and I slept, weak and tired.

“In the middle of the night, I awoke, shiv-
ering and my teeth chattering. Oh, what a
spectacle was before me! On all sides nothing
but the water, nothing but the dreadful sea!
The stories about water fairies that I had heard
told by sailors came to my mind; I seemed to
see strange figures rising from the sea and
coming like clouds towards me. Then I shut
my eyes and prayed again. When I opened
them I saw a bright star ahead. _ I looked
again. It was a light and it surely moved.
A boat with men is coming towards us. ‘Oh,
Nanette!’’ I cried, ‘‘stand up.”’ It seemed to
me the cow ought to shout for joy; but the
poor shivering creature did not move.

“My fingers were numb and stiff, but I tore
off my apron and waved it in the air, then,
then—”

“Then,” said Edmund, with glowing eager-
ness, ‘‘they reached you and took you home—
you and Nanette?’’

“J do not know how it was,” said the old
woman whose eyes were filled with tears. ‘‘I
remember only voices, and then finding myself
on a big ship, and then being home again in
the dear old cabin, and father thanking the
blessed God and rubbing Nanette, and then
the happiest moment when father said, ‘Oh!
my daughter, I felt sure you would pray, and

God would hear you.’ My young friend, with
God to help me, I was as safe on that open sea
as I am now by this bright warm fire.””

“Ay, ay!” said the merchant, quietly; and
the son, looking at the dancing flames, said:
“J thank you, Madam Martens. You have
taught me a lesson that I shall remember for
many a day.” Selected.

bounded with joy, and I was truly happy. | Dear Pionerr:

Thave a nice story for you. I knew a little
hoy and I loved him too. He was nearly four
years old when he went home to his Saviour.
He had learned to say a little prayer: ‘Dear
Saviour, a child of faith make Thou of me,
that I to heaven come to Thee.’’ It was his
custom to kneel down and to fold his hands,
whenever he prayed. But in his illness he
grew very weak and became also paralyzed on
one side by spasms. ‘When I told him to say
his prayer, he would answer: “I cannot,”—
meaning of course that he was not able to
kneel down, which he seemed to consider
necessary for praying. But I cannot help
thinking that shortly before his peaceful de-
parture the Holy Spirit enlightened him on
this point. Listen, what happened. I was
sitting near his bed and, seeing that he suffered
so much, I began saying by myself in a low
voice: ‘Dear Saviour!’’? and—little Alfred
spoke after me: ‘‘Dear Saviour, dear Saviour!
help! Dear Saviour! a child of faith make
Thou of me, that I to heaven come to Thee.
Amen.”’ And on that day he went to see his
dear Saviour and joined the heavenly hosts to
praise Him forever. F.

—> <> - 2

The Irishman’s New Testament.

A farm laborer in the county of Cork, Ire-
laud, understanding that a gentleman had a
copy of the Scriptures in the Irish language,
begged to see it. He asked whether he might
borrow the New Testament in his own tongue,
that he might take a copy from it. The gen-
tleman said he could not obtain another of the
books, and he was afraid to trust him to take a
copy in writing.

“Where will you get the paper?’”’ he asked.

“T will buy it.”

“And the pens and ink?”

“T will buy them.’

‘Where will you find a place to copy it?”

“Tf your honor will allow me your hall, I
will come after I have done my work in the day
and take a copy by portions in the evening.”’

The gentleman was so struck with his zeal
that he gave him the use of the hall and a light
in order to carry out his wish. The man was
firm to his purpose, finished the work, and pro-
duced a copy of the New Testament in writing
by his own hand. A printed volume was given
to him in exchange, and the written one was
placed in the hands of the late noble President
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, as a
monument of the desire of the Irish to know
the Scriptures.

Ooo

“Tr is a welcome thought to the true child of
God, that with every year which passes that last
day comes nearer when time shall be no longer,
that last day when all true children of God
shall go into an eternity of bliss and happiness.
There the light of the Lamb will be in the
place of the sun, and that light will cast no
shadow.”

PRITZLAFF MEMORIAL LIBRARY
CONCORDIA SEMINARY
ST. LOUIS, MO.