The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1903, Page 11

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

ii

A Young Missionary.

The following story is told by Cyrus Ham-

lin, a Christian missionary in Syria, and
shows how in early life he showed a mission-
ary spirit.
_ “In my boyhood days the greatest event of
the season was the autumn muster. Every boy
who went to the muster had his money to buy
gingerbread on that great day.

“Jt was a bright September morning. My
mother gave me seven cents to
buy gingerbread, and a cent then
would buy a pretty large piece.
I was thinking how I could spend
all that money in one day, when
my mother said, ‘Perhaps, Cyrus,
you will put a cent or two in
Mrs. Farris’ contribution box as
you go by.’

‘As I went along I kept think-
ing; my mother said a cent or
two. I wished she had told me to
put in one cent or two cents, but
there it was: ‘Perhaps, Cyrus,
you will put in a cent or two.”
‘As I turned it over in my mind
during the first mile of my walk,
I thought, ‘Well, I will put in
two cents.’ Then I began to
reason with myself, ‘How would
that look? Two cents for the
heathen and five cents for ginger-
bread!’ It did not satisfy my
ideas very well, because we al-
ways read the missionary news
at our house and my conscience
was tender on the subject. Two
cents did not look right, and sol
thought I would put three cents
into the box.

“J went along for a time very
comfortably after I had come to
this decision. But by-and-by the
old reasoning came back to me,
‘Four cents for gingerbread and
three cents for the souls of the
heathen.’ How was I to get rid
ofthat? I thought I would change
it for four for the heathen and
three for gingerbread. Nobody
could complain of that. Then I
thought of the other boys who would
to ask: ‘How many cents have you got to
spend?’ and I should be ashamed if I had
only three cents. I-wished mother had given
me six cents or eight cents. Then I could
haye divided it evenly, but now I did not
know what to do.

“T got to Mrs. Farris’ house and went in.
I remember just how I felt. I got hold of my
seven cents and thought, ‘I might well drop
them allin, and then there will be no trouble,’
and so I did.

“After that I was well satisfied with what
I had done, but about noon I began to get
hungry. I kept shy of the gingerbread stand.

be sure

I went off where the soldiers were having But the brave child thought to herself, ‘‘By

their dinner, and wished somebody would| the time I have got others to come, they will

throw me a bone. all be drowned, so it will be best to see what
“J stood it without a mouthful till four) I can do.’’

o’clock, and then started for home. As I| Her father was a sailor and she knew how

reached home I cried, ‘I am as hungry as to manage a boat. So she put off in a small

a bear; I have not eaten a mouthful all)

one and pulled towards the wreck. :
day.’ All might have gone well had not the poor
““CWhy, Cyrus, where is the money I gave | creatures clung in such numbers to the little
you?’ craft as to overturnit. But even this calamity

‘Mother, you did not give it to me right.

did not daunt the little heroine. She swam
back to the shore and came again
in a far larger boat, in which
some twenty persons were safely
brought ashore. They hardly
knew how to express their thank-
fulness. When she was asked
what had given her such courage,
she said simply that it was impos-
sible to hear their cries without
coming to help them, adding, ‘'I
trusted in God to help me, and
you see He has.’?— From the
Swedish.

° <= 0 - eS

Saved Him.

A missionary, on his way to
India, relates an incident that
transpired on his voyage, as
follows:

“J was sitting one dark night
in my cabin, feeling thoroughly
unwell, as the sea was rising fast,
and I was but a poor sailor. Sud-
denly the cry of ‘Man overboard !’
made me spring to my feet. I
heard a trampling of many feet
overhead, but resolved not to go
on deck, lest I should interfere
with the crew in their efforts to
‘save the poor man. ‘What can
Ido?’ I asked myself, and in-
stantly unhooking my lamp, I
held it near the top of my cabin
and close to my bull’seye window,
that its light might shine on the
sea, and as near the ship as pos-
sible. Directly afterwards I heard
the joyful cry, ‘It’s allright! He’s
safe!’ Thereupon I put the lamp
in its place.

“The next morning I was told that my little
lamp was the sole means of saving the man’s
lite. Its timely light, gleaming out upon the
waters, revealed the position of the drowning
man, and assisted the crew in guiding the
knotted rope, which rescued him.”

Thus the true Christian worker never de-
sponds or thinks there is nothing for him to do,
even in the darkest hours of his life. Looking
up to Jesus, he lets his light shine.

Jesus Taken from the Cross.
«who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

If you had given me six cents or eight cents,
I could have divided it; but I could not divide
seven cents and so I put it allin the mission-
ary pox.’’? —L. M.

eee

A Little Heroine.

A ship, heavily laden with goods and pas-
sengers, Was wrecked near Regensburg, and
the people on board shouted desperately for
help; but as no one was to be seen save a little
girl of twelve, from whom they could expect
no more than that she might raise an alarm,
they had but faint hopes of getting off alive.

—» eae

THERE are persons who say they have no
sins to be forgiven. St. John says. that such
persons lie.: ‘