A TERRIBLE WALK.
Mother took baby Anna in her arms, and baby smiled and touched mother's
face with her little hands, then looked up at the sky again with that
solemn, wondering look of hers; and the next day, when the sun was
setting, and its glory fell on her little upturned face, Jesus called
her to Himself, and the angels carried her away from us to Heaven. It
reminded me of a piece of poetry out of a book of mother's, called
"Voices of Comfort." I learnt it by heart to repeat to father, and if I
can remember it, I will write it down, because it is such a lovely
piece:--
They are going--only going--
Jesus called them long ago!
All the wintry time they're passing,
Softly as the falling snow.
When the violets in the spring-time
Catch the azure of the sky,
They are carried out to slumber
Sweetly where the violets lie.
They are going--only going--
When with summer earth is drest,
In their cold hand holding roses,
Folded to each silent breast.
When the autumn hangs red banners
Out above the harvest sheaves,
They are going--ever going--
Thick and fast, like falling leaves.
All along the mighty ages
All adown the solemn time,
They have taken up their homeward
March to that serener clime,
Where the watching, waiting angels
Lead them from the shadow dim,
To the brightness of His presence,
Who hath called them unto Him.
They are going--only going--
Out of pain and into bliss,
Out of sad and sinful weakness,
Into perfect holiness.
Snowy brows--no care shall shade them;
Bright eyes--tears shall never dim;
Rosy lips--no time shall fade them;
Jesus called them unto Him.
Little hearts for ever stainless,
Little hands as pure as they,
Little feet--by angels guided
Never a forbidden way.
They are going--ever going--
Leaving many a lonely spot;
But 'tis Jesus who has called them;
Suffer, and forbid them not!
Rachel said baby Anna died because she thought it would be much nicer to
go to Heaven than to Wei-hai-wei--but the little ones did not understand
it at all, they seemed to imagine she was away on a visit. Tiny Tim
said he hoped they would be kind to her where she had gone, and give her
a lot of presents; and we all kissed her little white face--it looked
like a flower somehow--and folded her sweet hands on her breast, and
then the rest went on, all but mother and me, and we laid her gently
down, strewing the earth lightly over her, and covering her little grave
with flowers. Then we knelt beside her and prayed, and after a little
time we walked on and overtook the others. Nurse said it was a good
thing baby Anna died, because the poor little thing would have suffered
so much, and I knew mother thought so too, but still she could not help
quietly crying, because her arms were so very empty. I shall never
forget that walk to Wei-hai-wei. Rachel thought it was great fun at
first, and so did Jack and Jill. They liked wearing the Chinese dresses
and doing no lessons, but they soon got tired of walking, especially
Tiny Tim, who kept on calling out for father to come and carry him.
The sun was very hot, but we were obliged to press on, we were so much
afraid of being pursued and taken back again. Sometimes we would see a
band of rioters coming, and have to leave the road and hide; and once we
were overtaken, and the people looked at us very fiercely and called us
"foreign devils." Tiny Tim was very frightened, and hid his face in
mother's dress, and I thought we should be killed. Somehow I did not
feel much fear. I remembered the talk I had with father, and Jesus was
very near, and it seemed much better to go to Him and be at rest for
ever than to be hungry and faint and tired, and to go through the pain
of so many partings as we had gone through lately. But the Chinese did
not kill us as they did so many of the missionaries. I think they were
afraid to do so, as we were getting nearer every hour to places where
English soldiers were; but they took away a great many of our clothes,
and stole our money. Nurse had her money in her hand, and they beat her
knuckles with a stick till she dropped it, and then they ran away
laughing.
When we got to the first village we asked to see the Mandarin, and told
him how we had been treated; our clothes and money taken, and how were
we to get on, and what should we do for food? But instead of helping
us, he was very cruel indeed. He hated the Christians, and said he
wished we had come yesterday, as then he would have killed us all, but
now he had had orders, owing to the Empress being so merciful, not to do
so, but just to send the "foreign devils" away. So he sent us on to the
next village, and though we were tired and hungry yet we were glad to
go, as he seemed so fierce and cruel. In the next village the Mandarin
was kinder, and gave us a little rice to eat, but he said he could not
keep us. This happened in all the villages through which we passed.
Sometimes they would give us a little food, but they would not allow us
to rest or give us any carts to ride in. They always took us outside
the village, and then went away. Mother said afterwards it was because
they were afraid of killing us, and yet they did not wish to have us
with them. It was a weary, weary time, especially for the little ones,
but through it all God never forsook us; indeed we seemed to be kept in
constant communion with Him, and as we drew near to Wei-hai-wei a most
wonderful thing happened.
We were very weary, and sat down by the roadside to rest. The children
said they could not walk a step farther, and though it was not, of
course, quite safe to do so, yet we were so near a place of safety that
mother made up her mind to rest there for the night. We went a little
off the high road, to a place as much screened from observation as
possible. Mother and Nurse sat down and made the little ones as
comfortable as they could, and then, as we always did, we asked God to
take care of us and be very present with us during the night. We had
hardly gone off to sleep when we heard steps approaching Tramp, tramp,
came the footsteps, nearer and nearer. I was wide awake in a moment, and
my heart stood still, for, in the gathering darkness, I saw plainly a
tall Chinaman approaching. He seemed to be alone, but this might not be
the case. What if he were the leader of a band of Boxers! I did not
mind so much for myself, but I could not bear to think of the others
being tortured and killed. He looked terrible in the darkness as he
came towards us. I did not know what to do. I only thought, in a wild
kind of way, that I would go to him and ask him to take my life and not
to waken the others. I could talk Chinese a little, and hoped to be
able to make him understand. I got up quickly, without even disturbing
mother--she was sleeping heavily, for sorrow, as the disciples of
old--and as he strode over the ground which divided us I rushed up to
him and put out my hands, and then I remembered nothing more till I
heard a voice--a loved voice that I never thought to hear again in this
world. I dreamed I was in Heaven with father, and he wore a Chinese
dress, but when I came rather painfully back to earth again, the first
thing I was conscious of was that I was in the arms of the tall Chinaman
I had seen.
[Illustration: As he strode over the ground which divided us, I rushed
up to him and put out my hands.]
"Don't hurt them," I cried out in an agony, "kill me instead, but do not
hurt them: they have suffered so much already."
"Cicely, my darling, don't you know me?"
The voice again. I was so weak and unnerved, or I should have
recognized before my own precious father. I went off once more then,
this time for joy and thankfulness, and woke to feel his strong arms
round me, and knew that God was good, and that my pain was over. My
care and anxiety was gone, for was not father with us again? Were not
his arms round me?
"Humanly speaking," said father, in answer to our breathless questions,
"my escape is all owing to Mr. Li. He stood between me and what would
probably have been a torturing death. I was struck down, and when they
saw I was not dead, their rage knew no bounds--and that noble fellow
defended me, and did what he could to protect our property till the
Mandarin came. The Mandarin put me in prison, but Mr. Li rescued me,
provided me with this dress, gave me food and money for the journey,
brought me on my way, and here I am. I often thought of Onesiphorus.
'He oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain.' Thank God! Our
loss has been his unspeakable gain. He told me last Tuesday night that
he could hold out no longer. He was full of wonder at the peace in
which we were kept whilst death was so near and our property was being
destroyed, and especially at your calmness, my darling. Under God it
was just the touch that was required. He yielded then and there, and
gave himself to Christ. He is anxious to make a public profession of
his faith by being baptized as soon as ever the opportunity occurs. He
will make a splendid Christian, for he has counted the cost and found
Christ worthy."
"Thank God," said mother, fervently, "this one soul saved is worth all
the pain."
"I knew you would feel like this, Christine. The Lord has been very good
to him and to us. He has brought us all together again. We are all
here, are we not, dear wife?"
Mother did not answer, but I saw her bosom heave. Father looked round
anxiously, and the tears slowly welled into his eyes. He put his arm
round mother.
"It is all right, Christine," I heard him whisper. "He knows best. She
has been saved so much pain. When was it, my dearest?"
"Last Wednesday, Paul."
"And to-day is Friday. Three days in heaven beholding the face of the
Father. Let us thank Him, dear wife, for this also."
We all knelt down upon the grass, and after that I heard father and
mother talking far on into the night, and, looking up, I saw God's stars
in His sky, and felt how very near He was, and then I went to sleep, and
the next day, towards evening, we met some English soldiers and arrived
at Wei-hai-wei.