Ruth Lamb

“ It was through God's blessing on her teaching that the girl had been brought to the feet of Jesus, and who can forget such a service as this?
No wonder that Fanny's tears fell fast as she told the sorrowful tale to Mrs. Crook, and then summoned courage to ask if she might go to see Miss Lawton.
It was not her night out, and the household rules, as to leave of absence, were us rigid as those about followers. Still Fanny thought if Mrs. Crook would relax them, it would surely be for Miss Lawton's sake.
"How do you know the young lady is not likely to get better?" asked Mrs. Crook sharply. ”

“ But that unexpected embrace, that pure caress, stirred her as she had never been moved before, not only to thankfulness for the lovingkindness it manifested, but to regretful thoughts, as she looked into the past and knew what she had lost by those years of hardness and loneliness.
It is not for us to trace, step by step, the change which had its beginning, as we have already seen, through the simple words of a little maidservant, and the love for souls which burned in the heart of a young disciple of Jesus. We will rather pass by these years, and look at Mrs. Crook after the interval. ”

“ Children do so love flowers, and, thank God, those who live in country places have grand gardens to roam in, free to all, and planted by His own loving hand. But in town it is different, and Mrs. Crook lived just outside one, far enough away from its smoke to allow of successful gardening, not too far to prevent little feet from wandering thither from narrow courts and alleys, to breathe the purer air, and gaze with longing eyes at the fair blossoms. ”

“ Crook knew that it depressed sick people sometimes to be told that they were not looking well. She was glad that she could honestly say the contrary to Miss Lawton.
The sick girl smiled, as she answered, "You know the old saying, 'while there is life, there is hope.' I have so many to love that for their sakes I might wish to live, but God has enabled me just to leave myself in His hands. To live and work for Him would be very sweet. To depart and be with Christ far better still. I have only to wait and trust. All will be well." ”

“ The conduct of Black-Eyes seemed to brighten, by the thought of it, the dim little side street into which I passed when I bade him good-bye, and a prayer went up from my heart to God, that He would bless the children and guide their young feet into the narrow path that leads to everlasting life.
I could not feel the same about Willie's home, for his conduct was tyrannical, selfish and mean. He enjoyed the sight of suffering, and unless he were checked and guided aright, would develop into a cruel and selfish man. ”

“ But let her speak of Him who giveth to all meat in due season, and who, beside giving bread to nourish our bodies, has given the "Bread of Life," to some poor perishing sinners, and Mrs. Crook's interest was gone. She looked either indifferent or unconscious; she answered in monosyllables, as if the subject were nothing to her, and Miss Lawton felt convinced that any allusion to a possibility either of sinfulness or of need in herself would give deadly offence, and close Mrs. Crook's door against her for the future. So she could only pray, and wait, and hope. ”

“ Often had this young servant, who was also a humble disciple of Jesus, spoken to her dear teacher about Mrs. Crook. There never was a lover of the Saviour who was not a lover of souls also, and to Fanny it was a real sorrow that her mistress never spoke of Him.
"How nice it would be if Mrs. Crook were like Miss Lawton!" thought Fanny. "She would have me reading the Bible to her, and she would help me to understand it better. And she is so lonely, poor lady! She seems to care for nobody, and nobody cares for her. ”

“ Now, as the "comfortable" widow paced up and down her parlour, she could remember no acquaintance or friend who would be likely to shed a tear if she died to-morrow.
"Really," thought Mrs. Crook, "I believe that little simpleton of a Fanny cares more for me than anybody else does. She is a soft-hearted thing, and I tell her sometimes that her tears lie very near her eyes. But she is true, and there is no crocodile crying or deceit about her. ”

“ Crook noticed that the girl's eyes were full of tears, and she heard a smothered sob.
"What is the matter with you, Fanny?" she asked, testily. "Toothache again, I suppose? But if it is, you need not be a baby, and cry about it. Girls are so frightened of themselves, that if a little finger aches they go sniffing and crying about a house, and making everybody miserable!" ”

“ Crook, when one day this unpleasant question had persisted in obtruding itself upon her loneliness: "I am just fifty-eight, and I feel as strong as ever I did in my life. I cannot remember having had a week's serious illness in all those years. I am a far stronger woman than mother was, and she lived to be nine-and-twenty years older than I am now. There is no reason why I should not reach ninety, or even a hundred. ”

“ Has Time nothing better to give? Days and years are passing. Death must come to you as to others. What about eternity?"
When this last question recurred, Mrs. Crook tried to put it out of her mind. It was the one she disliked more than all the rest, yet it was the one which would repeat itself again and again, and for which she had no answer ready. She found her greatest comfort in thinking that she belonged to a very long-lived family. ”

“ If anybody wants to make a poor toiler happy, let her look round for some worthy, weary body, and give it a day's rest, by bestowing a conditional day's wages and the little more which shall spread the board and brighten the hearth. Such an expenditure pays good and immediate interest, and the night's rest of the giver will be all the sweeter for the memory of the drop of sweetness which she has been able to infuse into the cup of one less favoured than herself. ”

“ Miss Lawton said that when she was shown her state as a poor helpless sinner with nothing good in herself, and nothing to offer to God, she was very miserable. But soon, by the same blessed teaching, she learned how God in His great love for poor sinners had given His dear Son to live for their example, and then to die in order to buy pardon, cleansing, peace, and eternal life too, for those who had deserved nothing but death. ”

“ Surely, if ever there was a place when people were trying to walk big and look big, it was when the rich were casting in their coins by handfuls, and with an ostentatious clatter into the treasury of God's house in old Jerusalem! ”

“ If it were for the sufferers by a colliery accident, or for the unemployed at the time of trade depression, she would answer—
"Why don't they insure their lives, like their betters? Why don't they save something, when they are getting good-wages? I am not going to encourage the thriftless, or help those who might help themselves, if they would think beforehand."
If it were to build a church that money was being sought, Mrs. Crook instantly replied, that they had more need try to fill all the places of worship that were half empty, Sunday after Sunday. ”

“ True, Marian, and it seems to me that there is hardly any act in our social, even our religious life, about which we might not advantageously ask ourselves, 'Am I walking too big?' Sometimes, the timid Christian is afraid to offer his services, though he is longing to do something for God's glory and the souls of his fellow-creatures, because he thinks that others are dedicating five talents while he has only one. ”

“ Crook has found that she can influence the little ragamuffins for good, by means of a gift of flowers, for it is understood that dirty hands and faces do not match with these fair blossoms, and the small people vie with each other in holding out a clean palm to receive them.
Mrs. Crook has found these kind words avail more than sharp ones, and that a great deal of happiness may be diffused at a very small cost, not that she grudges anything now for such a purpose. ”

“ I nearly always sleep well, but if I do lose any rest at night it is sure to give me a bad headache, and I do not get rid of it till I have made up the loss."
Mrs. Crook was quite glad that Fanny said this. If wakefulness affected a strong young girl, it was no wonder that it made a little difference to herself, so she resolved to try and make up for lost time and restore the balance. She closed her eyes with an unwonted feeling of thankfulness in her heart, brought there by the thought that with Fanny in the house she might rest in peace. No need to fear that anything would go wrong. ”

“ Crook was quite right. If it had been natural for the human heart to be submissive to God's will, surely she, who was so much older than Miss Lawton, ought to have the feeling in a much greater degree, especially as she was almost alone in the world, and had no close ties of kindred or friendship to bind her affections more firmly to earth. ”

“ Mrs. Crook thinking more of what would be good for another than of what would be pleasing to herself.
"I do not think you need be afraid of going, ma'am," replied Fanny. "Miss Lawton scarcely sees anybody but her own family, only she wished so particularly to see you that the doctor gave in, and let her send that message by me." ”

“ Crook was like many other people who are past middle age, and who take no trouble to remember their own young days. They expect an amount of patience and forbearance from the girls who serve them, which they, as mistresses, are by no means willing to exercise in turn. And, knowing the unreasonableness of such expectations, they can hardly believe the fact when they are occasionally realised.
A good many little scenes which had taken place between herself and Fanny, passed before Mrs. Crook's mind's eye during her little maid's absence. ”

“ I know there are wise people who would object to the bestowal of odd pennies on little street children, and I own that it would not do to scatter even these broadcast. But when—well I will not argue, but suggest that, if in going along the streets, we can in any little way give a glimpse of happiness or a gleam of sunshine to a child, it is good for ourselves that we do not let slip the opportunity. ”

“ At church, mistress and maid occupy two seats in the same pew, and the third is always at the service of any stranger who requires one.
Of course, too, since God opened Mrs. Crook's heart, she has been willing to open her hand and her purse, and all who work for Him find in her a willing helper. No more hoarding—Mrs. Crook has become a cheerful giver.
Her little maid resembles the Fanny of three years ago, but can hardly be the same, unless time has stood still with the girl. ”

“ I always walk either too big or too little to please her, and I invariably enter her presence in fear and trembling. I would not wilfully pain her for the world, and I have tried to make her understand this, but I am always wrong. ”

“ Again the girl took up the sweet words of invitation, "'Come unto me;' 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance;' 'Whosoever will, let him come,'" with many another message which came straight from the very lips of Jesus when on earth, and told her visitor how they had been brought home to her own heart. ”

“ She never gives me a saucy word when I find fault."
By Mrs. Crook's own confession, strictly private and made only in her own mind—it became evident, even to herself, that she did not behave with strict justice towards Fanny. If the girl did her work so conscientiously, surely there was little room for fault-finding; and yet, it was so much the mistress's habit to grumble, that Fanny had often to bear the weight of her tongue, whilst feeling that she did not deserve to be scolded, and that at times, try as she might, she could do nothing right. ”

“ Crook had either been, or pretended to be, ignorant of them, until the girl asked permission to go to a dentist.
Happily, she had obtained relief, and was able to answer:
"My face is all right, thank you, ma'am."
"Then what is the matter? I suppose you think you have something to cry about. If you have no troubles, you make them. You don't see me cry about every little thing, do you?"
Fanny could not call to mind any occasion when she had seen her mistress shed tears, and she said so. ”

“ Poor little chap! He had stood there on the chance of picking up a stray winkle, and even when the first fell into his possession, groped for on the greasy-feeling pavement, he had bravely checked the impulse to make it his own, and had asked the shop-keeper if she wanted it back. From instant observation, I concluded that the question had gone to her heart, for one or two winkles rolled off into the street just then, in what seemed a preventible way, as she served a juvenile customer. ”

“ Crook that it was natural for the young to yearn for companionship, and that to live in such a quiet house, with a mistress who never dreamed of sympathising with them, either in joy or sorrow, or troubled herself about their affairs or their friends, must be rather trying. ”

“ The visitor was determined not to be offended, and she replied gently, that there was no chance of gossip, for after a certain time had been given to the actual business of the meeting, such as planning, cutting-out, and apportioning work, one of the ladies read, whilst the rest sewed.
"But," she added, "if you are willing to help us a little, and object to joining the meeting at the room, perhaps you will let me bring you something to be made at home. There is always work for every willing hand."
Then Mrs. Crook drew herself up, and said she did not feel inclined to take in sewing. ”

“ He gets no stinted measure of affection. One could discern a mother's hand and love in every article of his clothing, even to the small pocket-handkerchief which took so much tugging out when most needed. ”

“ One finds so many to pray for in passing to-and-fro in the world. And are we not all members of the great human family that sprang from the same Creator? Should we not all pray that we may become true children of the same heavenly Father? ”