The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 11

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"The Lutheran Pioneer.

ii

Evening Hymn.

“He giveth His beloved sleep.”
Be still, my soul, and rest this night
In quiet on my Father’s breast;
°Tis He can make thy burdens light;
Tis He can still thy heart’s unrest.-
He knows thy every care,
He hears thy faintest prayer.
Then, when things seem to go most ill,
Just trust in Him and be thou still.
From the German

—_—~ + o=em ee me

Mother Strickland’s Silver.

What our story relates happened many
years ago in Cincinnati. At that time there
was a Bible House in that city, in which were
also the offices of the Foreign Mission Board.
For this house a woman was one day earnestly
looking. ;

‘‘Where do they keep Bibles?’’ she asked
of a passer-by.

“YT don’t know,” was the gruff answer.

“Well, you ought to know,” said the woman.

Soon she stood at the door of the Bible
House, repeating her question in another
form: ‘‘Is this where Bibles are kept?”

The manner in which she asked it excited
the curiosity of the three persons that were
present.

The woman was of small statue and her
face was wrinkled. She was poorly clad,
and the manager of the Bible House did not
know whether her errand was to buy a Bible
or to ask for a gift.

“T should like to see some,’’ she remarked.
On being shown the kind usually given away
to such as she was supposed to be, she asked
for something larger and better.

The manager placed a Bible of large size
and expensive style upon the counter. At last
came the question:

“What is the price?’

‘Five dollars,’ was the reply.

“YT will take five of these,’’ said she.

“Five Bibles at five dollars each! ‘wenty-
five dollars!” thought each of the witnesses,
only half believing their astonished ears. They
soon saw that the woman was in earnest. She
counted out pieces of silver, of various de-
nominations, until the whole made a glitter-
ing pile.

* While the three persons in the room gazed
in wonder, she was seemingly unconscious of
their presence. Her lips moved, but her
prayer was silent. It was, no doubt, a prayer
for those for whom she had bought the Bibles.
The manager then told her of the Bible

Society and of its mission work in supplying’

the poor with the Word of God. This was
new to her. Giving the Bible to the poor!
Blessed opportunity! so she thought; and
another pile of silver was beside the money
with which she had bought her five Bibles.
_ “What is your name?’ asked the man-
ager,
‘Tt is no matter,”’ she replied.

whom I received this gift.’’
Christ knows my name, and that is enough.”’

was done, she was told that Christian men
carried the Bible to heathen lands; preached
in the languages of India, and China, and
Africa; that these Gospel messengers were
supported by Christians in our own land;
that money and the necessaries of life were
sent to missionaries from the spot where she
then stood; and that all-this was done through
the Mission Board.

upon the counter was placed another group
of silver coins—this for Foreign Missions.
Her purchase-money and gifts amounted to
about sixty dollars, all in silver pieces.

name, and she was then known as Mother
Strickland by a few who became acquainted
with her history. She lived about twenty
miles from the city, not far from the Ohio
River, on a farm, products of which she
brought to market three or four times a year.
For these she had received the coin which
she paid out at the Bible House, just as it
had come into her hands.

land made her visits to the city, to sell the
products of her farm and to give a portion of
the proceeds to the Lord of the harvest for
mission work.

usual errand to the spot which had become
sacred to her.
tieth visit. Hard work, bitter trials, and time
had wrought a great change in her appear-
ance.
weary step, evidently bearing a burden from
which she wished to be relieved.

other silver offering —fifty dollars.

‘bade good-by to the manager, who had be-
come her friend, and also to his wife, who

They saw her face no more. Before the time

“But,” continued he, ‘I should report from | brakes!’’ Up pressed the brakes, but with
no apparent slackening of the cars. Every
window flew open, and every head that could
be was thrust out to see what the danger was,
and every one rose up in his place, fearing
destruction. What was the trouble?

Just as the engine began to turn into the
curve the engineer saw a little girl and baby
brother playing on the track. In a moment
the cars would be onthem. The shriek of the
whistle startled the little girl, and every eye
looking over could see them. Close to the
rail, in the upright rock, was a little niche out
of which a piece of rock had been blasted.
In an instant the baby was thrust into this
niche, and as the cars came thundering by,
the passengers, holding their breath, heard
the clear voice of the little sister on the other
side of the cars, ring out: ‘Cling close to the
rock, Johnny! cling close to the rock!”’

And the little creature snuggled in and put
his head as close to the corner of the rock as
possible, while the heavy cars whirred past
him. And many were the moist eyes that
gazed and many a silent thanksgiving went
up to heaven.

In a few hours the cars stopped at the sta-
tion, where an old man and his son got off.
He had come so far to part with his child,
who was going to an eastern city to live,
while the aged father was to turn back to his
home. All the dangers that would harass the
son seemed to crowd into the heart of the
father as he stood holding the hand of his
boy—just now to part with him. He choked,
and the tears filled his eyes, and all he could
say was: ‘'Cling close to the Rock, my son!’”
He wrung the hand of his child, and the pas-
sengers saw him standing alone, doubtless
praying that his unexperienced son might
“cling to the Rock Christ Jesus.’? —S. V.

Her only answer was: ‘‘The Lord Jesus

When she asked whether other mission work

This was another opportunity for her, and

Later on a clue was finally found to her

For seven successive years Mother Strick-

One day Mother Strickland came on her

It must have been her twen-

She entered the Bible House with a

It was an-

She felt that this visit was the last, and so A Home Saved.

A mother was working hard to feed and
clothe her two little children and pay for their
little home. ‘The man who owned the house
sent a lawyer to turn them out, for they had
not paid enough to suit him. The lawyer
stood outside the door and heard the mother
reading God’s promises and telling Fred and
Mary how God had promised a home to all
who loved Him. ‘Then, mamma,”’ said Fred,
‘if the Lord has promised a home to those
who love Him, couldn’t He let us keep our
house?”’ ‘‘Yes, my dear, I am sure He could,
if He thought best.” ‘‘Then let us ask Him,
mamma.’’ They all knelt while the mother
told God all their trouble, and the children
said ‘‘Amen.’? When the lawyer heard all
this he went and told the owner of the house
that he could not turn out this pious mother
and her children, for they had God’s promise
to take care of them. The owner let them stay
until they could pay for the house. So, we
see, God heard their prayer and answered it.

had so often welcomed and comforted her in
her Christian home. It was her last visit.

came around for her visit to the city, Mother
Strickland had gone to her heavenly home, to
“a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God.”’

<2

“Cling Close to the Rock, Johnny.”

A long train of cars, fourteen or fifteen,
was passing over the Allegheny Mountains,
on the way eastward. They were crowded
with passengers. As the iron horse snorted
and rushed on, the passengers felt that they
had begun to descend. Just as the passen-
gers began to realize their situation, they
came to a short curve cut out of the solid
rock—a wall of rock lying on each side.
Suddenly the steam whistle screamed as if
in agony: ‘‘Put on the brakes! put on the