The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1886, Page 23

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

23

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tried. Joyfully the onlookers observed in a
|short time faint signs of reanimation; then he
A mighty storm howled along the north-east | struggled and moved, and ultimately became
coast of England on Friday and Saturday, the| conscious. With wild amazement he gazed
6th and 7th of February, in the year 1861.|around on the vast crowd of kind and sym-
The wind was blowing from E. N. E., and) pathising friends. They raised him to his feet.
lashed the foaming and racing waves to fury. |
Its anger seemed to culminate around che beaten old fisherman near him, and earnestly
mouth of the Tees, and in the bay of Hartle-| asked, “Where am I?”
pool eighty-one vessels were driven ashore, |
forty-three of which became total wrecks, and}
eighty brave hearts were stilled forever be-|
neath the waters and eighty desolate homes|

A Mother’s Prayers. They had to cross a brook on stepping-stones

and it was dark, so Jeannie’s father waded
across and carried the others over one by one,
tll she was left alone. She was frightened to
stay by herself, so she walked into the brook
holding the precious book high above her head.
The water came up to her waist, but she walked
bravely on and had nearly reached the other
side, when she met her father.

“Father,’’ she said, ‘tyou told me to take
care of the old Bible, and I have.’’

Just then they heard some firing and sound
of horses’ feet. So they hid themselves behind

He looked up into the face of a weather-

“Thou art here, my lad.”

‘Where's the captain?’’
“Drowned, my Jad.’
“The mate, then?”

were left sailorless on shore.
ious inhabitants dotted the coast and watched
the vessels tossed like corks on the waves which
bore them reefward.

The five lifeboats which belonged to the two
Hartlepools were out rescuing the crews of

Groups of anx-|

‘*He’s drowned, too.”’
“The crew?”’

| “They are all lost, my lad; and thou art
the only one saved.’’

The boy stood overwhelmed for a few mo-

some rocks and were not found out.

Jeannie never forgot that dreadful night
when she carried the Bible through the deep
waters, and when she was dying many years
after, she seemed to be dreaming of it, and said:

“T am in the deep river, in the deep river,

the stranded vessels, when about ten o’clock| ments, then he raised both his hands and cried | but I'll hold up that dear old Bible! There,

on Saturday morning, a stout vessel
was seen in the offing making for the

shore. The signal of distress was fly- |
ing, and she ran before the wind Jand-
ward. Her name was the Jising Sun,
and the eager eyes which watched her
could make out that she was severely
damaged and was quite unmanageable.
A long reef, called Longsear Rock,
lies out in the bay about a mile from
shore, and could she but round this
she would be in comparative safety,
or at least within reach of help.

On she came, rolling on the waves
which bore her to destruction. Each
moment she neared Longsear Rock,
and the watchers gave a cry as they
saw her strike heavily upon its end,
and in a few minutes she sank, the hull :
disappeared, and the waters hissed and foamed
about the two masts which continued to stand
out of the sea. Upon these the crew, seven
in number, could be counted as they clung for
life. All the lifeboats were engaged, and the
only means left of rescuing the seven men
clinging like flies to the shaking masts was the
rocket apparatus, and before this could be ob-
tained one of the masts upon which were hang-
ing three men broke away and they perished.
The other could be still seen, and three more
men and a boy could be distinctly counted
upon it.

With intense anxiety and all possible speed
the apparatus was adjusted, but just as the
light touched the powder and the mortar fired

the ball and line across the wreck this last mast
disappeared with its precious burden, and the
gray-green waves around the reef rose and fell
unbroken by a sign of human life. Sadness
fell on all faces, and many a rough hand drew
itself across misty eyes, which in vain scanned
the waste of the ocean. Hopelessly the line
was drawn in, but as it neared the beach some-
thing was felt to be entangled in its folds.
That something was the sailor-boy. At first it
seemed that his young life had been beaten out
of him, but every means for his recovery was

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

And then he dropped on his knees on the
wet sand and hid his subbing face in his hands.

Hundreds heard that day this tribute to a
mother’s love and to God’s faithfulness in lis-
tening to a mother’s prayers.

The little fellow was taken to a house close
by, and in a few days he was sent home to his
mother’s cottage.

—_ ~~ oe eo

The Good Book.

A long, long time ago, in Scotland, people
were persecuted for reading their Bibles, and
for loving and serving God. Wicked men
would drive them from their homes, and burn
their houses, and often kill many people. One
day a Christian came into his house, and said
he heard these wicked men were coming, and
they must all go away at once to the next
village, where they would be safer. He carried
one child, and the mother the baby, and little
Jeannie had to walk. Her father gave her the
big Bible to carry, and told her that she must
be very careful and not let it get wet or lose it,
“for we could not live,’ he said, ‘without the

good Book.”

in a loud voice: ‘‘My mother’s been praying | its blessed promises will cheer you and brighten
for me! my mother’s been praying for me!’’ | the way over, till you see His face who died

take the book, take the book,” and
soon she ceased to breathe.

Dear readers, do you love the old
Book, God’s own blessed Word? We
are able to buy Bibles so cheap now
that I am afraid many people do not
value them as they used to do in the
days when they were more difficult to
get. O, remember, it is God’s Word,
God’s letter to you and me, to show
us how we may be saved. If we do
not read it, how shall we ever reach
heaven? It is a wonderful book, it
always seems fresh and new, and no-
body who loves Jesus, ever got tired
of it, but the more they read it, the
more they love it. Will not you seek
to love it, too? And then when you
have to cross the deep waters of death,

for you.

——2 <0. oe oe

Trust in God.

Several German princes were once extolling
the glory of their realms. One boasted of his
excellent vine-yards; another of his hunting
grounds; another of his mines. At last Ahe-
lard, Duke of Wurtemburg, took up the sub-
ject and said: “I own that Iam a poor prince,
and can vie with none of these things; never-
theless, I, too, possess a noble jewel in my do-
minion; for were I to be without an attendant,
either in the open country or wild forests, I
could ask the first of my subjects whom I met
to stretch himself upon the ground, and con-
fidently place myself upon his bosom, and fall
asleep without the slightest apprehension of
injury.”’ Was not this a precious jewel for a
prince? I, however, have something better,
for I can rest my head and my heart in the lap
of God’s providence, and upon the bosom of
Jesus Christ with a perfect assurance that
neither man nor devil can touch me here.

Gotthold.