One Sabbath evening a teacher was walking up and down in the porch
before his house, in one of the South Sea Islands. The sun was setting
behind the waves of the ocean, and the labors of the day were over. In
that cool, quiet hour, the teacher was in prayer, asking a blessing on
his people, his scholars, and himself. As he heard the leaves of the
Mimosa tree rustling, he thought the breeze was springing up--and
continued his walk. Again he heard the leaves rattle, and he felt sure
that it could not be the wind. So he pushed aside the long leafy
branches of the trees, and passed beneath. And what did he find there?
Three little boys. Two were fast asleep in each other's arms, but the
third was awake.
"What are you doing there, my children?" asked the teacher. "We have
come to sleep here," said the boy. "And why do you sleep here; have you
no home?" "Oh, yes," said the lad, "but if we sleep here, we are sure to
be ready when the school bell rings in the morning." "And do your
parents know about it?" "Mine do," said the lad, "but these little boys
have no parents; they are orphans."
You know the nights in the South Sea Islands are not cold and damp like
ours, but as the teacher thought a heavy rain would fall in the night,
he roused the orphans, and led the three little boys into the large
porch of the house, where they might rest in safety. He was happy to
find that they were some of his scholars, and that they loved their
school. What would these little Islanders think if they could look from
their distant homes into some of our schools and see how many late
comers there are!