Anonymous

“ IT was a sharp, frosty night late in December, the wind driving the snow in unfriendly gusts into the faces of the passers-by, and compelling all who were not actually obliged to encounter its violence [6] to seek as speedily as possible the shelter of their own homes.
At the corner of a street leading out of one of the many crowded thoroughfares in the heart of the city, stood an old-fashioned crockery shop, from the inner parlour of which the cheerful glow of a coke fire, reflected on the window-panes, made the darkness without only seem more dreary and desolate. ”

“ The bright mornings were generally spent on the shore; and in the afternoon, while Daisy rested in the pleasant bay-window of the parlour, little Lizzie often went with Mrs. Morris on some mission of love to one or other of the fishermen’s or farm-labourers’ cottages scattered over the valley.
Sometimes, as a great treat, the child was allowed to go by herself, to carry a basket of eggs or a pat of home-made butter, with some tea and sugar, to an aged man and his wife, formerly employed on the farm, but who were now past work, and lived in a lonely cottage half-way down the cliff. ”

“ At that moment the outer door opened, and another customer coming in, Mr. Morley, the owner of the shop, stepped out from behind the glass door. It was only a message respecting some order which had been given earlier in the day; and no light being required, the trembling children remained in security in their hiding-place. At length, overcome by fatigue, cold, and hunger, they fell asleep in one another’s arms, the younger child whispering, as she kissed her sister, “I wish, Polly, we might stay here every night, instead of sleeping out in the cold.”
Poor little ones! ”

“ Deeply touched by an answer which told so much, in a few short words, of the suffering and want with which they were evidently so early familiarised, but unwilling to show what she felt, Susan answered: “Quite right, dear; heaven is a place where nobody wants for anything; every one there is quite happy. ”

“ It was the old story, alas, only too common, of sin, suffering, and sorrow; the drunkard husband going away, and leaving the poor, worn-out, sorrow and care-stricken wife to die in a miserable garret, and the friendless little ones turned out alone on the world, which seemed to them so large and dreary. Sleeping now on a doorstep, now under one of the numerous railway arches, too often the only refuge of the homeless and destitute, in the daytime begging a few halfpence, or some scant crusts, growing every day more dirty and more forlorn ”

“ After all, it is not so much our work as our will that God asks and desires of us—the offering up of ourselves as a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice; and the little child that day by day looks up to heaven, and tries from love to Jesus to be gentle, loving, and obedient, or to [21] bear with quiet patience the weary pain which keeps it still and lonely when other children are at their merry pastimes, does not live in vain, but is bringing forth the fruit of righteousness, to the praise and glory of God. ”

“ Susie, the eldest girl, was a pupil-teacher in the school where her younger sister and brother went, and on Sunday afternoons took a class in a ragged school not far distant; and she had learned to feel a tender love for the poor little ones for whom the Lord Jesus died, but who, until they came to the school, had heard but little of a Saviour’s love.
Elsie, the second girl, had left school, and helped her mother at home and in the shop; Alice and Johnny went every day to school under Susie’s care; and Daisy, the third girl, was an invalid. ”

“ Susie had gentle ways, and loved her little sister dearly, and devoted much of her spare time to her; while Daisy in return unconsciously taught her elder sister many a lesson of patient submission and quiet trust. For never can the life of anyone, however young, feeble, and apparently helpless, that is really united to Jesus Christ by living faith, be spent in vain. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life;” ”

“ Happy for those that have with them in the ship the one Pilot that can bring them safely through all storms, into the quiet haven.”
The child looked up earnestly into the man’s face as he spoke, and then said: “Daisy says she thinks the haven must be all the more welcome when the boats have had a rough passage.”
“Ay, and Daisy’s right too, my child; the storms and danger make the rest and peaceful shelter seem all the sweeter; and heaven will seem all the more welcome when the voyage has been full of storms.” ”

“ To homes once sunk in darkness and ignorance had the blessed light been carried, and little children, taught of Jesus, had borne home to their parents the glad tidings of great joy, and taught the lips which first taught them to speak the words of eternal life. Thus had the wilderness been turned into a fruitful field; and in the day of the harvest those patient sowers shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.
As Susan opened the door of the school, a group of children followed her in ”

“ Traces of tears could easily be seen on the cheeks of the elder, who appeared to be about eleven years of age, and the most hasty glance at either could not have failed to discover many unmistakeable signs of want, hunger, and poverty. ”

“ Mrs. Morris did not press him to talk any more; but with a few soothing words, and an earnest prayer that Jesus would light for him the dark valley, the shadows of which were now gathering around him, she took leave of the poor man, desiring the woman in whose cottage he was to see that he wanted for nothing, and promising to return later in the day.
The other sufferers occupied much of her time and care; and it was not until late in the afternoon that she was able to see the poor dying sailor again. ”

“ Daisy’s confidence that God would hear, and that some day they would be brought back, was unshaken, though day after day passed by without bringing anything further to light about them. “Our prayer-children,” she would call them; and perhaps few little beggar children ever had so many loving [22] thoughts bestowed on them, so many sweet prayers breathed upwards into the ears of the Lord of heaven and earth, prayers that were not spoken in vain, but which were even now preparing a harvest of blessing. ”

“ She spoke to them of the tender love of the Good Shepherd for every one, even the least and feeblest of His lambs; of their great enemy, the devil, from whom He died to deliver them: how He knows each little one by name, keeps His eye always upon them, watches over them by night and by day, goes after them when they wander from Him, and brings them back to His fold ”

“ One day, when the wind was rising and the sea very rough, the old man told Lizzie to watch the fishing-boats coming into the bay, and then said:
“You see those little storm-tossed boats, my lassie, making for the harbour; they’ve had a rough time of it, and I’ll venture to [57] say, there isn’t a man in them who won’t be glad to set his foot on shore. It’s a rocky coast this, and many’s the brave ship I’ve known in my time wrecked off the rocks yonder, let alone the little cockleshells of fishing-boats. Ah, my child, it’s just a picture of our life. We’re all launched on a stormy sea ”

“ Grey, dear little Bessie’s stepmother, is beginning to read in earnest the little Bible Bessie loved so dearly, and we must pray that she too may receive the kingdom of God as a little child. She brought the twins last week, and asked to be allowed to send them to the school where Bessie [78] learned the way to heaven; and the neighbours say that she is wonderfully changed, and so much more gentle than she used to be. She comes regularly to the mothers’ meeting, and has been at church every Sunday evening for the last two months. ”

“ When school was over, the children stood up and sang together the sweet hymn, which followed so well on the subject of the lesson:
“Jesus is our Shepherd,
Wiping every tear,
Folded in His bosom,
What have we to fear?”
When the class was dismissed, Susan called the little strangers to her, and asked them their names, and where they lived, and if they would like to come to the school again. The elder one answered:
[32] “I’m called Polly, and that’s Lizzie. We don’t live nowhere. This is a rare nice place; we’d like to come again.” ”

“ The little girl was always welcome to the good old couple, and many a happy half-hour she spent with them, sometimes reading to them as they sat in the chimney-corner out of the large Bible, which always lay open on the table; [56] sometimes sitting on a little stool at their feet, and listening to them as they talked of the days long gone by, when children’s feet had trodden their cottage-floor, and another little girl had occupied the same stool Lizzie was sitting on. ”

“ Lizzie gets a cough then; and I don’t know how to keep her warm; we often shiver all night long. Arches is draughty; but sometimes we find an old barrel, and creep into that; that’s the best place.”
“Not quite the best,” said the younger child; “we once slept in a warm place.”
[33] The elder child here shook her head at poor little Lizzie, and made a sign to her to say no more; but the movement did not escape Susan’s observation, and only served to confirm what she had already strongly suspected, that these poor, forlorn children were none other than Daisy’s “prayer-children.” ”

“ I know I haven’t long to live, and my voyage is almost over. I hardly thought I should have lived through last night. I had no strength to stir hand or foot myself, and if they hadn’t lifted me into the boat I must have been drowned, for the ship was filling fast; but, oh, how different I felt from what I did in the last storm! Now I could say to myself a verse I had many a time heard poor Charlie sing when the wind was against us, and the sea rough:
‘One who has known in storms to sail
I have on board ”

“ But I tell her not to grieve too much, for ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin;’ and little Bessie is where the angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, and where the broken and contrite heart is not despised. I think God is giving her this broken heart, and perhaps little Bessie is now, with those other bright spirits, rejoicing over her.
“The dear little school is prospering; Jane Hardy is a great help, and, next to Polly, the best monitress we have. They often go to read to Mrs. Grey, and she takes kindly to them for the love they bore [79] to little Bessie. ”

“ John always knows best. Well, thank the Lord for keeping the poor babes from perishing on a night like this; and thank Him too for giving us, just now, when our hearts are sorely yearning after our own little one in the heavenly fold, something to do for His lambs still in a world of sin and sorrow. ”

“ We shall walk about till it’s dark, and then creep under one of the arches, or on to a doorstep, if nobody don’t turn us away; but most often we get turned away from one house after another, or the police sees us, and then we has to hide away as fast as we can. ”

“ Susan then told the children to turn to their Bibles; and, after reading with them the parable of the lost sheep, she told [30] them as simply as possible, how Jesus is the Good Shepherd who goes out after the lost sheep, and never rests until He has found them; how by the “lost sheep” are meant those who have not known His love in dying for them; how tenderly He loves little children, and longs for them to come into His fold. She explained to them how weak and unable to protect themselves the sheep are ”